The fate of DxD
by whitesquirel
Summary: When Shirou and Illya found out that they have been thrown into another world, they certainly didn't expect to be dragged in a conflict of three overpowered races. Hell, they didn't even expect to leave Fuyuki anytime soon. Now they have to deal with devils, fallen angels and the occasional angel. How for God's sake is there any time for romance left?
1. 00 Intro

**A/N: Alright.. My first fanfiction. This is after the Heaven's Feel story line, but Shirou isn't madly in love with Sakura, only has a light affection.**

 **Please review, I am always happy about some good critique and if you see mistakes, feel free to point them out! I hope you enjoy the story.  
Update 2.0: Reworked the whole chapter, so it would be more fitting!  
**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fate/Stay Night and I am not making any profits.. :(**

There it was. Right in front of him was the _thing_ that should not exist. The very _thing_ that brought suffering to his friends. The _thing_ that separated his family. The _thing_ that should not and must not exist at any cost.

The whole war was overshadowed by pain and fear. It caused siblings who should enjoy their time together, to fight. That alone was unacceptable.  
Standing before the _thing_ , he felt rage sweeping through his body, filling his very being. _It_ is something he has to destoy, because _it_ endangered the people he swore to save. Even without the dream of being a hero of justice, _it_ had to be destroyed. Because _it_ not only endangered millions of lives, but his family and friends. Those who he swore to protect before anyone else.

Despite that, a part of him wanted to thank _it_. Not only did the estranged sisters find back together, but he gained a sister as well. A cute little girl with snow-white hair and a tendency to irritate him to no end. In this short time, she already found her way into his heart. He admitted that their relationship might have started a little bit bumpy, but now.. Now she truly was his sister. Family. And family had to be protected.  
But to enable her to live, _it_ had to be destroyed. And to destroy _it,_ there was only one sword to do so. He knew he would die, that there wasn't any alternative. So he smiled. He smiled because he could save everyone. He had no regrets left, his ideals fullfilled. He prepared the spell, the projection. In his mind, a sword began to form. But he knew his current knowledge wouldn't be enough. To recreate this sword, he would have to use his left arm. Concentrating on his left arm, the arm with enormous muscles and a holy shroud, he lifted the seal. The seal separated his body from the arm of Archer, his alternate self. Transplanted onto him with the help of the fake priest and sealed, so that his soul wouldn't get rewritten by the 'soul' in the arm. There wasn't a soul in the arm of course, just a remaining piece of a copy. When heroic spirits get summoned, a copy of the soul from the Throne of Heroes was used and not the original one. He felt the foreign prana entering his magic circuits, unable to contain a shutter as it effortlessly mixed with his own. The sword in his mind was formed and he spoke the words to pull it from his Reality Marble.

"Trace on."

In his hands, a sword started to form. It was the combined prayers of humankind, given form. The pinnacle of swords, the most holy sword ever created – Excalibur. Many would look at it in awe, forgetting eveything around them, being entraced by the golden glow. But he was not many and for him, it resembled something close to failure. The sword of his servant, his saber, who had been by his side only briefly, before he lost her to the darkness of _it_.

And so he lifted the sword over his head, knowing it to be his last action. And so he spoke the name of the sword, knowing it to be his last words. And so he saw the golden blast heading to the dark and repulsing object, knowing it to be the last thing he will see. And so the world went black, but not without him noticing a white form to his side.

...

When Illya first came to Fuyuki, her only plan in this war had been to kill her brother. How could she not?. Her father abandoned her for this person. Kiritsugu chose someone he only just met, over her, his daughter! Alone for that, her father deserved the death.

But the war came too late and her father already died. So she did the most logical thing in her opinion: She decided to kill his adoptive son in his stead. It was her one and only objective in this holy grail war. She was going to die anyway in her function as the lesser grail, so she could at least take him with her. Of course Illya knew that a part of her desire was the influence of her grandfather Jubachtheit, the head of the family. From the beginning he told her that her father abandoned her and now loved another child in her stead. Through the years she saw behind his deceptions, but that didn't change the fact that she wanted to kill her brother. So the first thing she did after arriving, was to threaten Shirou Emiya.

But to her surprise, everytime she saw him from then on, he wasn't shivering in fear or running away from her. Instead of the cold, ruthless and arrogant bastard she expected to find, she found a ridiculous kind, loving and idiotic boy. Who would risk his life for someone they just met?! He was an enigma to her and she.. she actually started to like it. He wasn't anything but nice to her. He took her in after Berserker's death and treated her like a sister! He even defended her from Rin and Sakura. She resented herself for her misjudgement. How could she have been so wrong?  
So it came that Illyasviel von Einzbern, who only knew anger and revenge after her parents left, started to feel loved. And in response to that she started to love as well. She loved how he smiled when he talked to her, she loved how he ruffled her hair affectionally, she loved that she felt protected around him and she loved that he would do anything to make her happy.  
Even though she would never admit it to anyone but herself, she loved Shirou Emiya with every fibre of her being.  
And that's why Illya couldn't accept what he was going to do. She just knew it. In this short time, she already figured out his distortion. To save everyone, he will destroy _it_ and himself with _it_. It will certainly save everyone, the annoying twin-tailed magus, the overly busty purple-haired girl who was the villain mere minutes ago and, of course, herself. But for her, the price was too high. She couldn't loose the only person who cared for her and she would save him at any cost. With this in mind, wearing her 'Dress of Heaven', she entered the cave where _it_ is located. Only to be too late.

"EXCALIBUR!"

As she heard the word escaping his mouth, she knew that she couldn't do anything. She knew that this cave would carve in and bury everything in it. She knew that she had to leave immediately to survive. But as she watched his unconcious body falling to the ground, her body moved on his own.

"SHIROU!"

Screaming in despair, she ran towards him, falling to her knees beside him.  
He was dying, she could see it. His arm was slowly corrupting his soul and replacing the seal on it was too late. He also overused his madic circuits, overheating them so much that his whole body seemed to burn. This degree of damage was too much to heal, even for her, even with the 'Dress of Heaven'.  
Looking up, she saw the ceiling caving in, falling towards them. She realized that they are going to die in any second now and whispered her last words in this world: "...please, someone save us."

...

The darkness stirred. Dark emotions bubbled under the surface of the black liquid, the very core of Angra Mayu, representing all the evils in the world. The Holy Grail, its container, was destroyed a second time by the same sword. The sentinent omnipotent wish granting Holy Grail couldn't be born in this world. Again. After all these years of waiting and plotting, its plan was foiled again. By a mere HUMAN none the less! It knew that there won't be a next time. Even the magic association couldn't ignore something that could very possibly destroy the whole earth. But the Holy Grail couldn't do anything. No wish was spoken, no desire waiting to be fullfilled. The human who destroyed it only had the desire to protect his loved ones and fullfilled it himself. So the darkness decided to take him with it. To at least kill the one responsible for its situation. But just as it was about to indulge in his revenge, it noticed another being. And this being, as gentle as it voice was, expressed a wish.

"...please, someone save us."

The Holy Grail latched onto this wish with despair. It fullfilled the wish to have another change at being born. Darkness enclosed the two.

...

 _When Shirou woke up, he found himself surrounded by swords. Swords of every form and colour, mundane weapons and legendary artifacts. Next to them, he could see maces, spears and about every type of melee weapon there is. He recognized some of the weapons. They were stored in his soul, his Reality Marble after all. With just one glance he could tell the name of any sword, its history and the previous wielders. This skill allowed him to imitate the previous owners' skills and made his projection so powerful. He was a true faker after all._

 _In the distance, he saw a man. A man impaled with swords of all sorts. He was crouching low on a hill and Shirou knew that this man was dieing. The man knew it as well and still, he smiled. There was nothing to regret for him after all.  
Shirou recognized him. He was clad in black and red, with a shroud covering his shoulders. The hair was a brilliant white, rivalling Illya's. The skin was tanned darkly and under the skin Shirou could see packed muscles. It was the form of Archer, Rin's former servant and most importantly, is potential future self. This was the Archer who tried to kill him until Shirou talked with him and altered his ideals. He learned a lot from him even though he despised him. Archer helped him to change his ideals, to realize what the truly important thing is in life: his friends and family. To protect them takes priority. Of course, he is going to save as many as he could, but never if it would hurt his loved ones.  
_

 _Shirou found himself in fire. The fire was everywhere, burning houses, the ground and people. It was strange though, it didn't hurt him and he couldn't move. He helplessly watched as a praying man was killed by falling debris. He saw a woman run into a burning house just to save her already dead child. He saw people trying to shield their loved ones only so they could live a second longer. And he saw a small boy, barely seven years old. The boy was wandering through the flames, every step hurting, every step closer to his death. He payed no mind to the dying around him, just wanting to escape the fire. To escape the fire. His eyes were already empty, no feelings left in them after the hell he saw and was still seeing. Finally, he collapsed. And then was saved. The man who saved him had tears in his eyes and a overjoyed face, to find one, just this one survivor. Before he fell unconcious, he thought 'Could I be this happy?'_

 _Shirou opened his eyes and found himself sitting in the backyard of his home in Fuyuki. Next to him was the same boy from before, a few years older. He sat beside his adoptive father and they were looking at the lawn and the stars.  
"Hey, old man!" The boy said teasingly to his father. "If you're gonna sleep, do it in you bed."  
"Hah." The man chuckled dryly. "I'm fine." He continued looking up at the stars and his son gave him a curious look. "When I was little, I wanted to be a hero."  
The boy looked confused. "What? You wanted to be? Did you give up?"  
"Yeah, unfortunately.." He sighed in a resigned voice. "Being a hero is a time-limited thing. When you grow up, it's hard to call yourself one." He chuckled quietly. " I should have realized that earlier."  
"I see. Then I guess you couldn't help it." The boy responded.  
"No.. No, I couldn't." The man let loose an exasperated sigh and gazed up to the moon. "It really is a nice moon."  
The boy smiled and nodded. "Yup!" Turning to look at his father, he smiled and nodded. "Since you couldn't do it, I'll be one for you." His father looked surprised but the boy continued. "You are an adult now, so you can't do it. But I can." He stretched his arms. "Leave it to me.. Your dream."  
The man iss a bit startled by that, but nontheless agrees. "All right." He closed his eyes and exhaled. "Ah. I feel better.." And with these last words, the man died.  
_

 _Shirou watched the Holy Grail war. It wasn't his war, but it was still cruel. Shinji lost Sakura's servant early and wasn't aware of Sakura's suffering or knowledge of magic. His relationship to Saber and Rin developed from a friendship to something more. He watched Medea's dagger hitting Saber and her resistance against the command seals. Archer who betrayed Rin and planned Shirou's death. He saw Illya dieing by the hands of Gilgamesh who killed Berserker twelve times before that. And he saw Archer getting killed before he had a chance to kill his younger self. In the end, 'Shirou' killed Gilgamesh, destroyed the grail and lost Saber. He renewed his oath to become a justice of hero._

 _By now, Shirou realized just what he was watching. This wasn't his past. This was Archer's past, the Shirou Emiya who became a counter guardian in a different dimension. He steeled himself for what was going to come. Because he couldn't allow to get broken by Archer's life. He couldn't afford to die and leave his loved ones behind just like Archer did. If his resolve would waver, his mind would break and he couldn't allow that. Not then he didn't knkow if they were saved._

 _And so, Shirou watched. He saw Archer fighting to save unknown person and how he fought without regard of his own life. He watched how his friends desperately tried to keep his pace, only to leave one after another. He watched as Sakura, his beloved kohai turned away from him because she couldn't stand the thought of him getting hirt anymore. All her attempts to turn him away from the bloody path failing, she left. And Archer didn't give her a single glance, never looking back._

 _Shirou saw how a twin-tailed magus gave her life to save him. Rin died, jumping in the path of the bullet he didn't see. But Archer didn't turn back, not even once. He barely took his time to bury her, but without griefing he continued. He just kept going until he was condemned by those people he saved before.  
The deal with Alaya. With a smile he sold his soul only to save a hundred people. And over the centuries, he was forced to kill, to kill so many. He didn't have time to save someone, after killing thousands, Alaya just transported him to the next war._

 _Until finally, betrayed by his ideals, Archer broke. His nature as counter guardian betraying what he thought was right. He was not only forced to kill the threat, no. He also had to kill anything related to it, no matter how faintly it might be. Countless innocent people died by his blades and he couldn't do anything against it. So he decided to do the only thing he could - to create a paradox and ceasing to exist. If he killed himself before the deal, in the Holy Grail war were he was summoned as heroic spirit, then he could hope to flee the contract.  
_

 _Shirou was shaken. He knew that his former ideals had a crux, but he never expected them to be this bad. After seeing all this pain, he nearly gave up on himself. But he remebered. He casted all this aside. This hypothetical future won't happen. He had decided that protecting his friends and family had the utmost priority. That he would never let anything happen to them._

 _With these thoughts, the intense burning in his left arm stopped. It was just then that he noticed it. Shirou guessed he was already used to it, but now, it felt like a burden he didn't know he was carrying, was finally lifted.  
_

 _..._

When Shirou woke up, the first thing he noticed was pain. Or rather the lack of it. His magic circuits which should have been burning horribly after depleting all his prana weren't even itching. The wounds he got during the last battle completely disappeared. And most importantly, his left arm, Archer's arm, had a feeling of rightness to it. Even without the seal. He quickly used structural analysis on his body and was surprised. Everything healed perfectly, more so then it should be possible, even with Avalon. His left arm seemed to be perfectly fused with his body as if it was his own.

It was then that he felt the warmth coming from next to him. Shirou opened his eyes curiously and found himself in a small, dark and sparsely funitured room. Turning to the heat source next to him, he was greeted by the adorable sight of his sister being curled up next to him.

As if she felt his eyes on her, Illya slowly opened her own eyes and yawned.  
"Illya? What.. What is going on?" Shirou asked, barely keeping his blush in check as he saw that she was only wearing a thin nightgown. She might only look ten years old, but she was extraordinairy cute yawning and stretching herself. Illya looked at him surprised before throwing herself at him with a fierce hug.

"Onii-chan! You are finally awake!"

"Huh? How long have I been unconcious? And more importantly... Why am I here? The last thing I remember is destroying the grail.." Shirou's voice trailed of and he tried to pry his little sister of him. But she wouldn't move one bit, so he decided to just go with it. He enjoyed the sensation of being hugged so tightly after all.

"Onii-chan, you were out of it for four days." Illya purred, overjoyed that Shirou hugged her back. "You really had me worried, you just wouldn't wake up even after this nun healed all your injuries. _His_ arm was acting weird and it took us a whole night to merge it with the rest of your body. You should be happy that I was wearing my 'Dress of Heaven' at the time.. It let me save your soul in the last second, after you so foolishly tried to fuel Excalibur with it. That was the only way we could think of to save you." Shirou gawked at her. "You fused his arm to me? That would explain this weird dream.." Seeing Illya's confused expression, he quickly gave her a summary.

"So you are saying that Onii-chan's soul merged with Archer's? Do you feel any different?" She asked him with a worried expression.  
"Not that I noticed. Other than a small urge to use sarcasm and a lot more weapons in my Reality Marble, I don't seem to be different." He replied with a smirk. Illya just gave him a doubtful look. "And I don't really think you could call it merging. I more or less overpowered it with my own willpower. Or so..."  
"Illya, what happened to Sakura, Rin and Rider? Are they alright?" Shirou asked with a worried expression. Illya gave him a reassuring smile.  
"They should be. Rider managed to get them both out of there before everything collapsed."  
That earned her a curious expression. He expected to at least find his lover, waiting for him to wake up. "Where are they then?"  
"About that.. How do I say this.." Illya let go of Shirou and settled down opposite to him. Her look grew serious. "Onii-chan, I don't think that we are in the same world anymore."  
"Eh?" Shirou just stared at her, completely dumb-strucked.

"Well.. I might have wished that someone would save us and that might have led the grail to fullfill the wish in hope of being born. And since we would only try to prevent that, the grail may have thought that it would be the best for it to transport us to a parallel dimension." Illya admitted while rubbing the back of her head, grinning apologeticly.

"Are you saying that the grail survived? We have to go back to help them" Shirou shouted with a panicked expression, slightly shaking Illya's shoulders.  
"I am sure that they can handle it. Rin is Zeltrech's student after all, if it gets to bad he would interfere. And I don't even want to start on what Sakura can do.. Trust me on this Onii-chan, they are safe." Illya tried to reassure Shirou and he calmed down a bit, lifting his tight grasp on her shoulders. "We should be worrying about ourselves for now, Onii-chan. I mean we're basically stranded in another world without a clue what's going on."

"..You are right Illya. I'm sorry. Can you tell me where we are right now?"  
"Of course, Onii-chan. In contrast to a certain someone, I didn't just sleep for the last few days!" Illya said with a smirk. Shirou only rolled his eyes.  
"It looks like we are in Japan, somewhere near to Tokyo. I tried to find Fuyuki in the internet, but it looks like it doesn't exist here."

"No Fuyuki, hm? Where do we want to go then, Illya? In a similar town?" Shirou wondered out loud. Illya nodded. "I found a small and nice town not far from here. I alread hypnotized some people and got quite a bit of money and papers for us." She smiled sheepishly. "I hope you are not angry at me Onii-chan, I didn't know what to do."  
'The only thing missing in her act of innocence is whistling..' Shirou thought. He just sighed. "It's fine for now.. But as soon as we moved I am going to get a job, so we can pay our bills for ourselves." He glanced at Illya who nodded reluctantly. He knew that she didn't like the prospect of working, after all she never had to buy anything herself. Normally, she would just sent out a servant to get her something and the Einzbern's would pay for it. Getting used to not having that much money might take some time for her.

Thinking about what to do next, Shirou heard Illya's stomach grumble. She looked down with a light blush and muttered something that sounded like "..didn't eat for days because I was worried..". So he decided to finally leave the bed and to prepare breakfast, curious what their new life is going to be like.


	2. 01 Settling in

**A/N: This chapter sets the scene basically. It's still pre-canon and deals with Illya's and Shirou's arrival in the new world. Its main focus, like the rest of the story, is going to be on those two, but I will try to add some other scenes. If you have any questions or advice, feel free to pm me or review. I would appreciate it a lot. Also, I wish I had a beta reader, I feel like my english is horrible, so don't mind the tenses.  
Alright, I hope you enjoy the story and thank you for all the support!**

Disclaimer: I don't owm High School DxD or Fate/stay Night and don't make any profit.

 _ **\- 3 weeks later -**_

Shirou sighed. Next to him, Illya was skipping happily on the sidewalk, pulling him forward by the hand she grabbed when leaving. She was wearing a stripped shirt with a grey jacket and a short purple skirt. He thought it went quite well with her slim build and white hair, it gave a contrast to the dull grey of the jacket. It reminded him a bit of the school uniform from Homurahara Academy… There he had seen Sakura and Rin running around in similar outfits. But they were far away now, unreachable with no means of contact. And he had no means of knowing if they were safe. Unconciously, his mouth slipped in a frown.

"Onii-chan? Is something wrong?" Illya asked, catching his expression. The last few weeks Shirou seemed to let his mind wander more often than not. She knew of course what he was thinking about, the people and things he left behind, especially Sakura. As short as their relationship may have been, it had been intense and in the middle of a war. Under these circumstances even Illya could understand and tolerate the affection he held for Sakura. But that didn't mean she had to like it, he was _her_ Onii-chan after all and now that the big-busted girl was out of the way, she could start to steal his affection day by day.  
"No.. I was just lost in my thoughts. I was thinking that you look very cute in your new uniform, Illya." Shirou replied, interrupting her musing. Illya blushed and looked away shyly. How can he just say something like that without batting an eyelid?!  
"You don't look half bad yourself! I didn't know that you look good in anything else than blue and white..." Illya had to surpress a smirk. Even though he looked quite handsome in the stripped shirt, grey jacket and grey trousers, she hadn't seen him wearing anything else than jeans and white T-shirts in the two weeks of the Holy Grail war. She tried to get him to wear something else, but.. She had wanted to cry after looking in his wardrobe. How can someone have that many clothes which are all looking the same?

After arriving in this world, they went shopping. Illya had to literally force her brother to buy anything else other than his standard outfit. Only the threat of revealling magecraft and striping him in the shpo with it, got him to look for something else. Now he had some black jeans and red shirts, as well as a leather jacket as well. The last one being something she bought for him because she wanted to see her brother in a badass outfit. She had to admit, the new clothes reminded her a bit of Archer. Especially with the Holy Shroud Shirou was still wearing around his arm. But she knew she didn't have to worry about that. Now that he discarded his old ideals, she wouldn't allow him to end up like Archer did. Not that she thought it possible, Alaya appeared next to non-existant in this world.  
"Haha.. Very funny. Just because I don't really care about my outfit, that doesn't mean that I always wear the same." Illya raised an eyebrow and gave him a doubtful look. "You know Onii-chan, Rin told me that Archer started to wear an red and black outfit after the Holy Grail war. And he didn't change his outfit for centuries. So my point stands, your not so possible future self is the best evidence."  
"I am not him! ..Anyways. Tell me, why are we here again?" Shirou asked, resigning the argument. He couldn't win against Illya. And even though he wasn't Archer, he couldn't disagree with her statement. As long as it gave decent protection and was easy to be reinforced, why change? "I know I said that I am going to attend high school to finish my education, but didn't you learn everything already?" That was true, Illya may have looked like an eleven year old girl, but in truth she was the older one of the two siblings.

She was a homunculous, an artifical life form created by alchemy. Her father, Kiritsugu might have been human, but that didn't change her being 'created' by the Einzbern magic. After all, her existence was meant to be only one thing: She was the vessel for the Lesser Grail. Therefore, the small girl had more magic circuits than any magus could ever dream of, but that came with a price. Her growth stopped when she turned eleven. Illya knew that her mother Irisvyel had been a beautiful and grown-up lady with beautiful white hair and angelic features, but it seemed that Jubachtheit, the head of the Einzbern family had made a mistake on her body. That resulted in her body to be as it is now.

Additionally to that, she had a shorter life span as well. In the opinion of the Einzberns, Illya didn't need to live longer than the end of the Holy Grail war, since she would have died anyways in her function as the Lesser Grail. Her body would have died more and more with every servant that died. She would absorb them and in the end, her body would materialize the greater grail. She was just the means to the end. After killing every servant, Illya would have been dead and the Einzberns would have been in the possession of their lost magic again. Heaven's Feel, the third true magic.

Heavens's Feel had originally been achieved by the Einzbern family, but its secrets have been lost one thousand years ago. For the next eight hundred centuries after that, the Einzberns sought to recover it until they finally came up with a plan. The Holy Grail. Together with two other important magus families, they created the Holy Grail system.

The Enzberns werde responsible for creating the vessel for the Lesser Grail ever since then because of their superior knowledge of Alchemy. Their homunculi had a very high quality and surpassed normal humans in a lot of areas. Some homunculi lived for hundreds of years and could lift hundreds of pounds easily. Illya on the other hand, had a vast reservoir of magic. And this vast magical energy was her death sentence. It taxed her fragile body too much and she estimated, she would only live for one more year.  
That being said, Shirou only had knowledge about Heaven's Feel and not her extremly short life span. Illya had considered telling him about it, but she was sure that it would only result in him trying to save her. She appreciated the thought, the thought that someone would give everything for her, but she also knew that it was pointless. There was no way of saving her. Her body will die and even her grandfather couldn't change that. But if she told Shirou.. He would search and search and search. He would search until she died and then blame himself. That she couldn't allow and so she kept quiet. She couldn't let her early death overshadow the time with her Onii-chan. No, instead she decided to enjoy it as much as possible, to do as many things as she could with him during her limited time.

"That's true, Onii-chan, the Einzberns certainly taught me everything I needed. But it's school! I have never been to school! Just imagine what it would be like to sit on the roof and feel like a main character?" Illya answered excitedly.

Shirou couldn't surpress a snort. After arriving in the new world, Illya discovered techonology and with it Anime & Manga. In the short span of two weeks, she developed a slight addiction. Often it showed when she compared the real life with one of her favourite animes. Not that Shirou minded, often it was very funny to listen to Illya's rambling about different subjects. He didn't have an idea what she was talking about, but as long as she laughed, he was happy too.

After settling in in their new home, he had started a job to start earning some money. They could get by quite well with Illya hypnotizing people to give her things for free, but Shirou definitely wasn't comfortable with that. It basically was the same as stealing in his eyes even though the people had been more than happy to give it to her.  
And so while he was away working, she started to search for something to distract her and stumbled upon the fantastic world of anime. She even delayed the set-up of her new workshop for several days only to finish her favourite series..

Shirou shaked his head at her antics and replied with an even tone. "So you only want to go to school because you want to live in an anime?"  
Illya nodded happily, not seeing anything wrong in that. "Yup, and to keep Onii-chan out of the way of lecherous women! I've seen that more often than not, the main protagonist keeps attracting femals without knowing about it! If that were to happen to you, I would definitely not be happy about it.." She muttered the last sentence under her breath, impossible for Shirou to hear.  
Shirou just raised an eyebrow. "And you think I am a main character? Or wouldn't know if someone is interested in me?"  
The small homunculus gave him an incredulous look. "Yes. You are the dullest person I know. By far. Even worse than normal characters." She told him with a flat voice.

"That's not very nice.. Just because I noticed Sakura's a bit late.." He muttered.  
'A bit late?! They even had sex before he noticed. Hell, I bet that he only noticed because she told him straight away after some time.' Her brother might been sharp in battle and everyday life, but love.. definitely not his forte. She had to sight at the thought. It made it so much harder for her.  
She had to change the subject before she strangled him. "Whatever. Kuoh Academy used to be an all girls High School not too long ago. If I don't pay attention, you might even start to build a harem!"  
Her brother blushed at the thought. "I would never do that! In no universe would I have more than one girlfriend!"

"That's right! I will make sure of it." Illya said with a scary smile.  
"..you killing my potential future harem, as you phrased it before, aside, don't you think people will find it strange that a small girl is attending High School? You are only be in the first year, but still.."  
"Onii-chan, I am not _that_ small. And I will just tell them that I'm a genius, problem solved!" She said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Well, to her it was. "Still, it's a bit annoying that you were placed into third year and me into first year. My test results were better than yours!" She puffed out her cheeks angrily.  
"I think that's probably because you said you are thirteen years old while I gave my true age." Shirou shuckled at her anitcs. She just looked too cute pouting like that. "They can't disregard the age and it would be harder to find friends for you."

"But I wanted to sit in class with Onii-chan" Illya whined. Shirou smiled and ruffled her hair affectionally, causing her to sport a faint blush. "I'm sure you will find a lot of friends in your class, Illya, so don't worry. And we are still meeting for lunch aren't we?"  
"Sure as hell we are! We can't allow the spotlight being taken by anyone else." With that sentence they rounded the last corner and saw Kuoh Academy. Only to freeze at the spot.  
"Onii-chan... Did you notice as well?" Illya whispered to Shirou, her voice tense and her eyes not leaving the school. Shirou already went into his battle stance immediately after rounding the corner, his magic circuits waiting to be fired up and his hands low as if he were about to grab a weapon.  
"I can smell it. There is something definitely not human." He said while looking around for potentional enemies.

Most Magi had the ability to detect magic or at least a certain sensitivity to other magic being cast nearby. This sensitivity had a wide range to make itself know, some taste it, some hear it and some will feel physically unwell. For Shirou, it was scent.

Even before he was really aware of ot, it was extraordinary strong. In the end, he realized it through Rin. He always greeted her without looking who entered the room and it freaked her out after a while, causing her to confront him about him When he said that he felt like he smelt her, hell broke loose. After the argument in which Rider had to restrain Rin to stop beating him for saying she smelt and Sakura because she wanted revenge on Rin for hurting her Senpai, they found out about his strong magic detection sense. Only for Rin to tell him that he probably was half bloohound in her usual teasing manner.  
With Archer's memories, Shirou had the chance to nearly perfect his sixth sense. Archer spent a lot of time during his life to train his nose to different magics and species, experiences which stood to Shirou's disposal now.  
The scent he smelled now was sweet, overly so. A scent so sweet and overwhelingly strong that he needed a few seconds to think straight again. He could detect other elements in the smell but they were too many and too light to identify him. Hm.. were that traces of metal? Or maybe a cat? Water? That was definitly new..

Shirou glanced at Illya who was watching him intensly and nodded. They were going to investigate it. And if the non-humans turned out to have hostile intentions they might as well do something about it. Illya smiled devilishly. Maybe they could be the ones killing an evil demon lord who hid in this school. That would be a dream come true for Illya, just like living in an anime. And maybe, just maybe, Shirou will fall in love with her like all the protagonists do... Illya faced flushed red at the thought.

Shirou was watching his sister's various facial expressions, wondering just what was going through her head. How can someone's face shift from tense to scary to happy to feverish red so fast? The red-head shook his head, right now he had to think about the threat in their school. Even though it was unlikely that they would attack someone in broad daylight, it never hurt to be vigilant.

"We are meeting at lunch break on the rooftop to share what we found out, okay? Be careful Illya, I don't want to loose you as well.." The 'as well' wasn't meant for Illya to hear but she picked it up anyways.  
She fought a frown down and smiled instead. "Don't worry Onii-chan, I am more than capable of taking care of myself." With these words and a wink, she gave him one last look and left for her classroom.

...

When Sona arrived at school today, she didn't really expect anything to happen. Beside the antics of the perverted trio, normally nothing special happened at Kuoh Academy. She liked it that way. She was the Student Council President and therefore every interruption of the daily business would reflect badly on her. On that note, she had to find a way to kick the perverted trio from the school. Just how could Rias accept their actions? They spent the whole day talking about breasts and pornos in public and to top it off, they were caught peeping just about every day! As the student council president and as a woman, she couldn't accept that. But no, Rias wanted them to stay and since she basically had the same influence as her, they stayed. Hopefully, they weren't going to gain a new member soon..  
Speaking of new members, the teachers told her about two new students who were attending school from today on. A first-year and a third-year, later of them would be in her class. Sona was surprised when she heard the news, normally the director checked with her before accepting transfer students, but these two got accepted without her consent.. Almost as if they hypnotized the director to accept them. But that was impossible, normal humans couldn't use magic and therefore it had to be his mistake. She was going to have words with him about that...  
Her thought process was halted by a intense wave of killing intent. It was only for a second, but it caused goosebumps all over her body. Just where did that come from? She quickly looked in the direction she thought she felt it from, but the only two persons she could see looked impossible to release something like that. The first person was a small girl with white hair. The girl looked young for a High School Student, but then Koneko did look young as well. She was skipping happily to the front entrance, as if she had too much energy. Sona could tell that she was human, so there was no way that a small girl would release that intense killing intent.  
Her gaze turned to the second person who was trailing behind her. He was tall for a Japanese teen and had red hair with white speckled. It seemed that his hair was starting to go white, but.. It looked as if whole strands of hair turned white immediately instead of growing white at the root. Weird. Maybe he coloured it? Her eyes noticed the smile he wore and discarded him as a possibility as well. Nobody with such a gentle and honest smile could want to kill someone. Furthermore, he was human as well, so he wouldn't have had the time to develop a mask.  
She shrugged and went inside. Classed were starting soon and there wasn't anyone who could have released that intense killing intent. Maybe it had been her imagination or she unconciously had thought about the perverted trio, causing her to shiver..

...

Sona was sitting in her place, waiting for class to start and for the transfer student to arrive. He entered together with the teacher and she recognized him immediately. He had the same red hair with white strands, athletic body and warm smile as the boy she saw at the school gate.

He smiled as he looked around the classroom, no doubt evaluating her classmates. He had bright golden eyes with.. something else in it. As if they were dulled, the gold had a silver shine to it. 'Interesting, not even devil have these kind of eyes..' Sona thought. She watched him as he looked around. As soon as his gaze felt on her however, his body stiffened slightly. She normally wouldn't have noticed, but the experience from the morning still had her on high alert. Why did he stiffen? There was no way for him to recognize her as a devil, maybe he was just admiring her beauty? She wasn't a vain person, not caring too much for looks, more so for character. But she couldn't disagree with the fact that she was one of the most beautiful girls in the school. Place number three the boys ranked her, right after Rias and Akeno.  
His gaze seemed to linger on her for a bit longer, before he bowed and introduced himself.  
"Hello, my name is Emiya Shirou. Please take good care of me." He said with the same innocent smile he was wearing when he entered.

"Why don't you sit next to Shitori-san, Emiya-san? Is that okay?" The teacher asked them. Instead of answering, they both just nodded.

...

"Shitori-san, why don't you show Emiya-san around the school? You are the student council president after all." The teacher requested, not really giving her a choice in the matter. She would have volunteered for that anyways, it was her duty as student council president to take care of new students. But this boy somehow made her a bit uncomfortable, as if she should stay away. What was this feeling?

"S-sure, it would be my pleasure. Please follow me Emiya-san." Somehow Shirou had a feeling that she wasn't too happy about that. Was that because she thought this task beneath her? Or because she wasn't human? Did she maybe notice him noticing her? These thoughts run through Shirou's head as he stood up from his place to follow her.

"Please call me Shirou, Shitori-san" He offered her in a polite voice.  
"Very well then Shirou-san. You can call me Souna. Nice to make your acquaintance." She said with a smile. While her real name was Sona Sitori, she used the alias Souna Shitori in school. To be fair, it wasn't really that different, but it helped at least a bit to disperse suspicion. Even though it kind of sounded the same.  
"Onii-chan!"

Just after leaving the classroom, Shirou heard a well-known voice. "Illya, what are you doing here?"  
"Did you already forget? We wanted to meet up for lunch!" Illya shot an incredulous look at Shirou. How could he forget? Right, he has been sitting next to non-human for the better part of for hours who glanced at him every few minutes. That's bound to be distracting.

Speaking of the devil, Sona interrupted their little argument. "May I ask who you are? I can't recall seeing you before."  
"My name is Illyasviel von Einzbern. I transferred here today." She said with a formal bow and all the grace of someone who was trained for years to move around nobility. "May I ask for your name as well? And more importantly, what are your intentions towards Shirou?" Illya observed Sona suspiciously. She couldn't allow another girl in Shirou's life so quickly! Especially not when she seemed to be what they noticed in the entrance.

"M-my intentions? I will have you know that I'm o-only showing him around because I am the student council president." Sona was taken aback by the sudden question. Why would this little girl ask something like that? Wait, was she jealous? "My name is Shitori Souna. What is your relationship with Shirou-san then?"  
"He's my Onii-chan of course." Illya stated proudly. How could she not be proud having such a strong and protective bigger brother? And on top of that he is handsome as well..

Shirou was quite amused about the exchange. He already knew what came next. First, Sona is going to stare at him, then at Illya and then at him again. Afterwards she would open her mouth to say something but close it again because she thought that asking wouldn't be appropriate.  
Shirou decided to spare her the embarassment and answered her unspoken question. "I am actually adopted by Illya's father who wasn't able to return to Illya's side. We met one and a half months ago for the first and are currently trying to form new bonds. That's why we decieded to attend school together." It went without saying that this was the very, very short version for people they didn't know. To better known people they would tell about the death of their parents, the fire and to an extent the happening in the war. But they had yet to meet someone to trust enough for doing so in this world.

"Oh. I am sorry." Sona didn't really know how to reply to this. Better continue her task then. "Then I will show you the school as well Illya-chan!" She ignored the slight twitching of Illya's eyebrows when she added the suffix -chan, meant for children and/or friends and family.

Not long ago, she enjoyed acting like a little child. As a child, you could get away with A LOT and everyone would be nice to you. Illya went around the city, acting innocent and would be everyone's favourite. She didn't only look adorable, but also had the grace of a lady, years worth of training. And she could ask Shirou to sit on his lap or maybe sleep in his bed because she had 'terrible nightmares'. Even though she enjoyed that more than anything else, it also was her biggest problem. Her _adoptive_ brother didn't see her as a girl his age (technically she was even older than him), but as a child. The childlike personality she displayed during her everyday life didn't help too much as well. But if she would be acting all serious and grown-up, Shirou would surely ask her if something was wrong and she didn't want to lie to him. The homunculus was going to die in the next year and she couldn't tell him that. It would destroy him. So displaying a happy and innocent personality was a must do. But that didn't mean she had to like it when some younger not-human girl called her 'Illya-chan' though...

...

"Neh, Shirou?" Shirou and Illya were currently on the rooftop. After touring the school and meeting the student council, Sona had dismissed them to have lunch.  
"What is it Illya?"  
"The student council isn't human or?"  
"No... But I can't tell you which race they belong too. I don't think I have ever met them before. Even with Archer's memories I can't tell their species." That was new, Archer as a counter guardian had lived for centuries and had met all types of beings. Even the occasional type was not unknown to him. If he didn't encounter it, it most likely didn't exist.  
"Well.. At least this finally proves that we left our universe, or?" Illya already knew that they weren't on the same world anymore, but now she was sure that they didn't even land on a parallel world.

"I guess so.. Kinda scary. At least they didn't act hostile and they don't seem to take hostile actions against the other students as well. I mean they govern the school through the student council and everything is as it should be. And this 'Occult Researcher Club' is only for invited members and they all smelt funny.. Maybe that places them over the average magus.." Shirou wondered.

He didn't really want to think about the way of the magus. 'To be a magus is to walk with death.' and 'The end justifies the means.' pretty much sumed up most of the magi. As long as they deemed their research more important than a few human lives, they sacrificed them without hesitation. And the clocktower normally looked the other way. Unless of course someone actually made a discovery, then they would seal them in the clocktower immediately or kill them if they chose to flee. Sometimes he thought that the Mage Association more sounded like a ruthless Yakuza gang and not an organisation for noble families and researchers.. But then that would be very unfair to Taiga and her grandfather, Raiga. He was the head of the local Yakuza family and they never treated him badly. Whenever Raiga asked Shirou to repair his motorbike which he couldn't give to a normal mechanic because of some modifications, he had always payed more than Shirou was comfortable with. Also Taiga was like a sister for him, even though she never really did anything expect eating his food.

"That's true. So we are just going to wait for them to make a move? Sounds good to me." Illya mused, uncovering the lunch Shirou prepared in the morning. "But if they so much as threaten you, they will come to regret it." She thought about laughing/chuckling like the female antagonist in the anime she just watched, but decided against it. There was no one nearby to hear it except Shirou and he wouldn't understand the effort she had put in imitating it. A shame.

"Wait and see it is then." Shirou agreed, eagerly uncovering his own lunch.

""Itadakimas!""

...

After school, Illya and Shirou met at the schoo gate to go home together.

"So, how was your first school day, Illya?" Shirou asked curiously. Illya never went to school before and sometimes she was rather.. energetic. Often she would get carried away a bit. Especially in the beginning of the Holy Grail war, where she went after him. Her servant Berserker had a somehow matching personality, destroying everything in his way. He surpressed a shiver at the memory, even though she missed her servant, Shirou was happy he was gone. Having a willing killing in her hands and being happy about using it, Illya had been a scary master..  
"Really nice, Onii-chan! The class was a bit boring, but that's about it. They all congratulated me on entering High School so young and were really nice." Illya stated proudly. "I have this one girl in my class and she is just so cute! Every time I see Koneko-chan, I just want to pat her head and give her something to eat." She had a somewhat dreamy look.  
Shirou shot her a worried glance. "Illya, you can't treat your classmates as if they are pets.."  
"But Onii-chaan.. Tomorrow I will introduce you! Prepare some lunch for her and maybe she will even eat out of your hand. Or maybe I will just take her home with me, she didn't wear an identification collar..." It didn't look like Illya would be ending her rambling anytime soon, so just Shirou just chuckled and rolled his eyes.

It was refreshing to have such an energetic person around and it was good to see her that happy again. In the last few weeks, he slowly noticed that she would frown from time to time when she looked in the mirror, only to smile the moment she noticed his gaze. He didn't know what depressed her, but he figured she would tell him as soon as she was ready for it. It was her decision and he would try his best to not pry too much.

A few minutes later, they arrived at their new place. Shirou still couldn't believe how it came to that. They were standing in front of a large Japanese mansion with a sizeable garden. It had a big kitchen, three bathrooms and bedrooms and a small dojo. In the garden there were a small and big shed, together with a comfy veranda.

All in all, it reminded him of his home in Fuyuki city. It was not as big as his old home, but that would be overkill anyways. His old house had no problem housing up to seven guests and even during the Holy Grail war, in the short period in which Sakura, Rin, Illya and him lived there, it wasn't too crowded. Only the garden could compare and even had an extra shed.

Shirou himself wasn't sure how they came to own this place or if he should be happy about it or not. He knew it was kind of his fault because he sent Illya to see the estate agent alone. He had an important job interview he couldn't miss and it was the only solution. When he came back, Illya happily told him that she found an appropriate place and promptly guided him to this house. After interrogating Illya, he found out that the estate agent had told her that the owner died a week ago and had no known heirs left, so the money of the sale would go to the government. A few hours later, Illya had hypnotized her way through some high ranked officals and was recognized as a long-lost niece who went to Germany with her parents a long time ago, only returning recently with her parents death. And to top it of, she somehow managed to make Shirou her legal guardian even though he was only 16 years old.  
Yup, Illya could go through great lenghts to acquire the objective of her desire. Thankfully, most of the time she only resorted to pouting and glaring and not large-scale hypnosis. Or destruction.

Getting closer to the door, he could feel the various bounded fields washing over him. Illya had spent a lot of time working on them during the last weeks. She wasn't able to duplicate the one Kiritsugu constructed in the Emiya residence which had warned him if people with malicious intentions entered. It was too well-made and even Illya who had considerable knowledge about bounded fields couldn't quite grasp it. So instead she focussed on sublte, but destructive ones.

The first one, which had a radius of more than a hundred meters, informed her about anyone who wasn't a full human. Afterwards, there were a lot of traps, alarms and enough slowing mechanisms to allow Shirou and her to deal with the infiltrators themselves. She was happy with her work, it couldn't compare to the huge Einzbern forest which was a death trap on its own, or Kiritsugu's stealthy warning system, but it combined a version both. Not easily spotted bounded fields with a lot of fire power. Anyone would be hard pressed to enter the house.  
Illya knew that the magic was different as soon as she arrived in this world. The air.. felt odd. It felt richer and more satturated than in her home world. In the beginning, she blamed the hasty escape out of the cave, but the sensation stuck. After Shirou woke up, she tried a simple spell to convert the Mana in the air to create Prana and was nearly overwhelmed – the Age of Gods somehow still existed in the modern world. That in itself should be an impossibility.  
Another surprise was the apparent absence of Gaia. Her magecraft should at least be exposed to a bit of natural interference. Gaia normally tried to erase her spells and degraded them to a small degree. Now she couldn't even feel a slight interference. What could have caused something like that? Did the earth, Gaia, loose the fight for survival? It definitely didn't look so.

Illya decided to not bother about it, the earth seemed alright and her and Shirou's spells had grown more powerful – a win-win situation! Speaking of Shirou, he did a lot of progress during the last few weeks. Even though he's still limited to his trademark spells (Structural Grasping, Reinforcement and Graduation Air), they grew more powerful. He benefitted heavily from Archer's skills and memories. He could use his Structural Grasping on things from a short distance now and somehow learned the history and some of the previous owners of said objects.  
His reinforcement skill upped considerably. Illya was quite sure that he could keep up with assassin without problems now. Of course he still wouldn't be a match to any real servant, he could maybe win through tactics and his suicidal sword style. Her brother said he could feel a lot more gaps in his body now which he could reinforce without any serious damage. His skin literally was as hard as a concrete wall, if he concentrated on it enough. The drawbacks were that it needed quite a bit of od and concentration which could be his death in a fight. Until he learned to do it unconciously, the distraction was a disadvantage. He was better in reinforcing objects as well, if he would reincorce a stick, it could hold against a well-made sword. The tested that in the garden and Illya thought it quite funny that he could block her sword striked with something so fragile looking.  
Graduation Air reached another level on its own. Not only did he have the blueprints of every weapon Archer ever saw (And he saw a lot. He spent his time during missions hunting down legendary weapons to add them to his already immense armory.), but it turned out that he actually surpassed Archer's projection skills. Shirou's swords didn't show any outward signs of degradation and a quick structural grasp unveiled the truth – he projected them with 99.93% precision. In all of his lifetime, Archer never managed to do that. Even Avalon which resided in his body for a long time and which he knew like his own body, didn't have this quality. Add that to the fact that without Gaia's influence they would stay in the world until he conciously dismissed them. That Shirou was excited about that would have been the understatement of the year.

Only his Reality Marble was still a work in progress. It being his soul, he couldn't use Archer's aria. His mindset and ideals were too different and he needed to think of a new aria to activate it. Easier said than done – summarizing everything about himself in a few words just as hard as it sounded. But he still jumped years in his research, so he was happy about it anyways. He would have been worried if his aria would be the same as Archer's..

...

"I'm going to my workshop for a bit. You may want to start preparations for dinner, Onii-chan." The small homunculus suggested with a cheerful smile.  
If you asked the siblings abuot the biggest advantage Shirou gained, both siblings would answer without thinking about it – His cooking. After moving in with Kiritsugu, the small boy had discovered his adoptive father's weakness immediately. He just couldn't cook. The first try had set the already old kitchen ablaze and Kiritsugu then decided to live from take-outs. Shirou on the other hand didn't like the outlook of eating take-outs for the rest of his life and picked up the kitchen duties. With all his experience (and unorthodox usage of structural grasping), his food had gained a quality rarely found in restaurants.  
After accessing Archer's memories however.. It seemed like Archer's only hobby was cooking and he did so whenever he could. Picking up new dishes left and right during his travels around the world, together with an extensive knowledge of spices and herbs, his dishes fast became fit for divinity. And royality, not only Rider had enjoyed them after all, Saber had eaten enough for three grown man.

"Hm, Illya? Isn't that a bit early? It's barely four in the afternoon? But if you are hungry, I can make something quick if you want." Shirou affectionally patted Illya's head, causing her to blush. He frowned a bit as he saw it, her face seemed to be red often in the last few weeks. Did she maybe have a cold?  
The white-haired girl shaked her head, enjoying the sensation of his hand on her head. "Noo, I was just excited. Your cooking really reached a new level, Onii-chan.. You could open a restaurant if you want. But.. I don't think I could support that, then you wouldn't have enough time to cook for me!" Illya pouted cutely as Shirou chuckled.  
"Don't worry, I would enjoy working in one though.." The 'red'-head adopted a thoughtful look. "Maybe I coulf help out in the kitchen in the evenings.."  
Illya just smiled. "Anyways, I will go then. Got a new mystic code I have to try!"  
"See you later, I will call you for dinner." He said with a wave of his hand.

...

The next morning, Shirou prepared three lunch boxes. His adoptive sister declared that she had to take care of 'Koneko-chan'. He still didn't know if that was her true name, 'Koneko' is the equivalent to 'kitten' after all and he knew that if Illya was excited about something, she was quick to do whatever she wanted. Like calling her friend 'Koneko-chan' or treating her like a pet.  
He shrugged. He would find out today, Illya said that she would bring her with her to the rooftop. Shirou was sure that she muttered something along the line of '..does that mean she is a main character too..?', but decided to ignore it, the best choice when confronted with Illya's anime antics.

...

"Hey, Onii-chan! Look, I brought Koneko-chan with me!" Illya shouted from the door of the rooftop. Shirou was already sitting there, enjoying the midday sun and relaxing from class.  
"Nice to meet you, Koneko-chan. I am Emiya Shirou, please call me Shirou." He said with an amiable smile. The girl he was talking to reminded him of Illya. She had a small stature, just a little bit taller than Illya. She also had short white hair. If he didn't know better, he would think them sisters.  
"...Koneko." Koneko replied with an expressionless face and voice. 'Well.. there is the difference Shirou thought. 'Koneko is missing all of Illya's expressions and enthusiasm.'  
"Illya asked me to prepare a lunch box for you, do you want to have it?" He asked the small girl. She immediately locked all her attention on the lunch box he was holding and Shirou saw her eyes glittering with desire. Shirou chuckled and handed her the box. "There you go!"  
"Onii-chan is the best cook ever!" Illya beamed while the red-head rubbed the back of his head in embarassment.  
Koneko on the other hand, didn't pay attention. As soon as she opened the lunch box she froze. The food looked very good, yes, but the smell.. All her nekomanta senses screamed at her to eat it immediately, before anyone could take it away. So she did.  
Shirou smiled, watching Koneko. He understood now why Illya was treating her that way. When she opened her lunch box and froze, he could swear that he saw cat ears straigthening up on top of her head for a fraction of a second. He thought about that. That would explain her 'smell' he picked up due to his sixth sense. She smelled overly sweet and.. like a cat. Maybe she belonged to a species of Nekomanta?  
While he was thinking about that, Illya was sitting there with an open mouth. Her friend just devoured the whole lunch box in less than a second! Why is it that small women always eat unbelievable fast and that much? Koneko could easily compete with Saber, no doubt.

Koneko looked at Shirou and tilted her head. "..Very good."  
"Thank you.. Do you want some more?" He replied a bit speechless. He barely saw her eating that, impressive. If someone loved his cooking that much, then they deserved more. So he gave her the half of his own lunch, after she answered his question with a small nod. After finishing, she sported a small smile. Koneko then said her farewells with the information that she had to attend a meeting in the Occult Research Club, leaving the siblings alone on the rooftop.  
"And Illya, have you decided to join a club yet?" Shirou asked curiously. He himself was thinking about visiting the Kendo or Archery club after school.  
"Not yet, today I will just have a look around. Maybe I can find something interesting."

The homunculus replied. "But I doubt it. I think I will just spend more time in my workshop instead and wait for you to return." She wasn't good at any sports due to her small form and body condition. The other clubs, like the literature club didn't interest her too much since she knew most of the books. And she definitely didn't have the patience for the Tea Ceremony Club.  
"Sure. I will see you then!" And with that they parted ways to go back to class.

...

"Ara ara, what happened to Koneko? She looks so happy and at peace?" Akeno asked the club members. Around her she could see the other members shooting a curious look at Koneko. The other members being Rias Gremory, the club president and Yuuto Kiba, a boy with blond hair.  
Yuuto smiled at that. "Well, I heard that she got dragged to the rooftop by the new exchange student in her class. She wanted Koneko to try her brother's cooking or so."  
The small girl nodded. "..Delicious." And promptly adopted an expression of absolute bliss.  
"Oh my, it seems like Koneko is done for." Rias laughed. "Maybe I should pay Emiya-san a visit, to tell him to stay away from my cute little servant, hmm?" She asked no one in particular, adopting a mischievous smile. Koneko looked at her horrified and Yuuto swallowed hard with an audible sound. Just Akeno's didn't react, instead her smile stretched further. "I was just kidding if course! I wouldn't want to make Koneko sad."

The white-haired girl and the blonde boy let out the breath they had been holding. Emiya-senpai really just dodged a bullet there. Rias could get very obssessive and protecting with her peerage.  
"But it might be worth to keep an eye on him and hister. You never know if they could have other hidden secrets after all." Everyone nodded in approval. "Now, why I called you here. My brother just informed me that he detected the Welsh Dragon in our school. We pinpointed it to Hyoduu Issei.."


	3. 02 Fallen Angel

**A/N: There we go! Chapter 3 is up and ready to go. This chapter basically finishes the introduction of Shirou and Illya in the world of DxD, or at least most of it. The next chapter will be shorter and finish the aftermath of the Fallen Angel incident.**

And finally there is an action scene in this fic. It only took around 15k words to get to it, rejoice! I hope that you can enjoy it and I'm always open for critic. So if you have anything to say about Illya's or Shirou's fighting style, please send me your ideas. Furthermore, I am also willing to collect and insert any ideas reagarding Illya & Shirou fluff.

Anyways, I am not a fan of long author notes. Here you go with the newest chapter!

 **Disclaimer: I don't own High School DxD or Fate/Stay Night.**

 **Chapter 2 – Fallen Angel**

Illya decided she liked school life. In the short span of a few days, she had more fun than she ever had had before the Holy Grail war. The other students in her class were very nice to her and treated her with respect. The lessons were easy and she had already claimed the top rank in her class. Add to that that everyone just did what she asked, not because she threatened or hypnotized them, but because they couldn't decline a request from the 'cute little girl' and she couldn't be happier. Well, maybe if Shirou would finally give in to her demands to bath with her..

Oh, and of course Koneko-chan. Mentally, she knew it was wrong to treat her like a pet, but she just couldn't help it! Everything about the girl screamed 'pet me' and 'adorable' to her. That's why she hadn't been terribly surprised after Shirou told her about her suspected Nekomanta origins. It just fitted too well. The way she was looking at and eating Shirou's lunches.. She swore she heard Koneko-chan, the normally expressionless girl, purring once.

But the time she enjoyed most, was the time she spent with her adoptive older brother. In the short time they lived together, they already developed a daily routine.

In the morning, Shirou woke up around 5am for his workout. Afterwards, a quick shower and then he started to prepare breakfast. Illya, as someone who could spend hours in her workshop late at night, normally woke up around 7am to the smell of food being prepared.  
Afterwards they left for school together and came back together as well. Neither of the siblings spent their time in a club, even though they tried to find a suitable one.

The small homunculous was happy with that, it left her more time with her Onii-chan and more time for her magic research in the afternoon. In the workshop she had set up, she worked on her current project – the magecraft of her mother.

Illya's own magecraft allowed her to use single strands of her hair to create small high-performance bird familiars. They were autonomous beings that defended her and pursued targets automatically, strong enough to block magic attacks, fast enough to dodge them and able of shooting magic blasts on their own. They each generated a considerable amount of magical energy, and Rin once compared them to a "miniature magus". Illya could change their shape into different forms, for example swords with a single command.

In her old world, she was capable of controlling a small number of them without problems, but was limited to use six at most. Now, without the need of supplying prana for Berseker and the general enhancement of magecraft in this new world, she was able to create a small flock of them. That might sound very strong and it certainly was, but due to the need of a hair for each bird, she had the fear of going bald at a young age. They were bound to be in a few battles, after all, Shirou found conflicts even without searching for them. And she was sure, he didn't like hairless small girls.

That's why she was currently researching her mother's magecraft. Instead of hairs, Irisvyel had used thin, long and flexible wires. She had used them to either produce an instantaneous homunculus with alchemy that attacked the enemy while having the ability to transform itself into numerous shapes. She had also used her weapon to immobilize her target.

Illyasviel, being Irisvyel's daughter, was confident that she could do so as well, given she had enough time and experience. That would not only solve the hair problem, it would strengthen her magecraft as well. She already ordered a mile of high quality wires without Shirou's knowledge. The internet really was a fabulous place, so many things only a click away! Why didn't she know about it earlier? Her days in the Einzbern castle would have been a lot less boring with the unlimited supply of animes online..

After a busy afternoon in their respective workshops, the siblings normally ate dinner together and then relax in the garden or living room. It was an 'ordinary' life as far as Illya was concerned and she enjoyed every second of it.

It was a normal school day and Shirou had just finished his lunch with Illya. She left early because her class had swimming lessons after lunch, so she had to change before lesson. He was on his way to the school hall when he heard a very loud whisper.

"Come on, let me see as well! You can't just look at them on your own Issei!" The red-head was curious. What could they be doing? It had to be interesting if they were fighting about it.  
Rounding the corner, he saw three boys, crouching down and shuffling in front of a wall.

"Not yet! The new girl hasn't started to change yet." Issei whispered to his two other companions. It was then, that Shirou remembered who these boys are – and their reputation.

On the first day of school, Sona had warned him to avoid these three. They were nothing more than perverts and used every opportunity they got to discuss lewd themes or to peep at girls. Thankfully, they didn't attend his class, instead they were second-year students and mostly stayed seperate from everyone else. The later was more because everyone avoided them, rather than them choosing to do so.

"The new girl? Now that you mention it, the first-year got a new cute loli.." One of the other guys said.

'I think his name was Motohoma or something and the other was called Matsuda. What are they doing here?' Shirou wondered curiously. And then he recalled what they said and what he knew...

They were currently next to the pool or rather the changing rooms. He could see a hole from where he stood which allowed a person to look into the room unnoticed. So the perverted trio were peeping again... at the students who changed for swimming lessons... his sister had swimming lessons right now.. 'new girl'... 'cute loli'... Oh. OH!

Barely keeping his anger in check, his magic circuits flared up, projecting a weapon of pure mailce and bloodlust. Taiga's cursed shinai. The other boys must have noticed the immense pressure radiating from it, because they turned to him.  
Shirou smiled, his smile empty of the usual kind and friendly expression. Now, it was filled with malice and a promise of pain. "So, does anyone of you want to explain why you are peeping at my sister?" The shinai twitched in anticipation, but the perverted trio didn't answer. They were too busy shivering in fear.

… 

"Neh, Onii-chan?" Illya turned to look at Shirou who was walking besides her. School finished not long ago and they were on their way back.

He stopped as well. "What is it Illya?"

"Do you know what happened to the perverted trio? I could sense them outside the changing room and was gathering the others to give them a good beating, but when we arrived, they were already lying on the ground unconcious. They had a lot of bruises, as if someone with a wooden sword hit them really hard.. And in the air was a lingering feeling of mailce I felt before, like when Taiga brought this cursed shinai with her.. Do you have any ideas?" She gave her brother a suspicious look.

Shirou smiled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head with his right arm. "Hm, no. How could I? But I'm sure they deserved it.. I mean they tried to see you naked after all and.." He trailed of at that thought. Somehow he suddenly had to think about a scenario where he didn't beat them but joined them. And then would have seen Illya naked, changing with the other girls.. His face flushed at that thought.  
'Bad thoughts, she is your sister Shirou! I bet that's the influence of all the tantric rituals I had with Sakura..' Somehow, his face adopted an even darker shade of red.

Illya's look turned even more suspicious. But in the end she just shrugged and continued to walk home. Her brother let out the breath he was holding and his shoulders slugged in relief. It would have been very awkward if she had decided to ask about his sudden change in colour.

Shirou was sitting on the veranda of his and Illya's new home. It was late, a few hours after dinner and the sun had already set behind the distant horizon. Only the light of the stars and a few light from the house lit up the backyard. He could barely make out the outline of the two sheds and the trees in the beackground.

Gazing up to the stars, he found himself remembering his last night with Kiritsugu. They had been looking at the stars as well, back in Fuyuki. Now though, they were different. He couldn't see the stars he was used to see, just like he wasn't sitting in his old home, no. He was in a new world with Illya, his long lost sister.

He remembered the promise he made to his father. The promise to continue his dream of being an 'Ally of Justice'. It wasn't like he broke his promise, he still wanted to be one.. but it wasn't his prority anymore. No, he still lived to save others, but now.. Now the most important person was Illya. He would save her no matter what , the only person he was left with. After talking with Archer, he chose the few other the many and now, only Illya remained of the few, strenghtening his desire to protect her.

She was the most precious person to him, currently the only one who mattered. And he wanted to show that to her, protect her from any dangers.

He heard someone sitting down next to him and turned his head to see the small girl he was just thinking about. She sat down quietly, and as if she was reading his mind, she rested her tiny hand on his. The message was clear and they both sat in a comfortable silence, not needing words to convey their thoughts. An hour later, Illya was leaning against Shirou and slowly fell asleep.

The magus put her head in his lap and smiled affectionally. He patted her head and she unconciously snuggled closer to him, seeking his warmth and protection.

No, there was no way he would let anything happen to her. And if had to die to protect her, he would do so without a second thought – he had done so already anyways, back in the cave with the Holy Grail. Not wanting to disturb her peaceful sleep, he stayed in his position until slowly, the sun started to rise and the first rays woke her up. But by then, he was already asleep, so he missed the look on her face, which was an odd mixture of happiness and sadness.

…

It was five days later that Illya witnessed the death of Hyoudou Issei.

She was on her way back from a late night shopping spree. It was more akin to a late night building site material robbery, but strictly speaking she didn't take anything. Instead she just experimented with the wires there and only had the _intention_ of stealing them if they were suitable. They weren't so technically she didn't do anything illegal and Shirou wouldn't have a reason to complain. Not that he knew what she was doing, he thought she was in her workshop, working on her newest project. He wouldn't agree to her running around that late. He loved his concern over her, but sometimes he was just too overprotective.

She was crossing through a small park when she suddenly felt a slightly powerful being heading her way. Without thinking about it, she leapt into the nearest bush and quickly constructed a small bounded field to hide her presence. It couldn't compare with Assassin's presence concealment, but as long as the being wasn't as perceptive as a servant, she should be fine.

Moments later, two people came into her view. One was Hyoudou Issei if she remembered correctly, a pervert who deserved only the worst treatment. Next to him was the being she felt earlier. It looked like a normal human girl, an especially cute one. She seemed to enjoy her night with Issei, was she his girlfriend? _This_ guy had a girlfriend? Why did she hide her form, did she want to live a normal life like all these others at school?

"It sure was fun today." The girl let go of Issei's hand and turned to him with a cute smile. "Hey, Ise-kun?"

"What is it Yuma-chan?" Illya couldnt't help it, her mouth fell wide open. 'So the pervert really has a girlfriend? I can't believe it. It looks like they are about to kiss.. Bah.'

"There is something I want to do to celebrate our first date. Can you listen to my wish?" Yuma-chan asked him. Illya was mystified. She knew she should go and let them have their provate moment, but this was just too good. Maybe she could use the same tactic with Shirou...

She didn't listen to the next few sentences, busy imagining things in her own little world. That is until she heard Yuma-chan's voice again.

"Will you die for me?" The words were accompanied by a happy laugh.

Illya watched on as Issei had a confused look on his face and sighed. Why didn't he have enough common sense to run away? At least she would learn her motives through his death. In this moment she was thankful that her idiot brother wasn't with her. He would have run there by now and risked a fight against an unknown being, completely disregarding his own safety.

Something she would never do. Instead she stayed and watched as 'Yuma-chan' sprouted black wings from her back and flapped them twice. 'An angel?' Illya thought. 'No, the black w ings would categorize her as a Fallen Angel. Our world had them too, but they were really rare and mighty. This one doesn't even have an oppressive aura.'

After deploying her wings, 'Yuma-chan's' personality changed. Instead of the cute and shy girl Illya observed in the beginning, now her voice was cold, mirroring her sardistic expression. "It was fun. The short time I spent with you. It was like playing house with a little child."

With these words, the Fallen Angel summoned a spear of light. At least that was what Illya thought. Lightning or holy light shaped into a spear. It reminded her a bit of Shirou's magecraft, but far inferior. This spear was just a very bulky and holy spear. Of course it was stronger than any normal weapon and very quickly formed, but no match for a Noble Phantasm.

The Fallen Angel threw the spear at Issei who didn't move. He hadn't moved all the time, was he really that shocked? It was as if he didn't have any survival instincts or reflexes. The spear pieced his stomach easily and the boy looked down at it, disbelieving.

"Sorry. You were a threat to us, so we decided to get rid of you early. If you want to hold a grudge, then hate the God who put the Sacred Gear inside you." 'Yuma-chan' flew away in the night sky.

Illya sat in the bushes and watched Issei die, but didn't spare him a thought. Instead she digested all the new information. That Fallen Angel killed an unassuming teenager because he could be a threat to them? How? Did it have something to do with this 'Sacred Gear' she mentioned? What exactly is that? And if they were willing to kill such a small potential threat, they certainly would kill Shirou and her as well if they knew about them.

A glowing light snapped her out of her musings. A magic circle appeared and with it, two persons she knew. Rias Gremory and Akeno Himejima. Two third-year students and said to be the two hottest girls in school.

Illya had remembered them quickly, after all they were one of the biggest threats for her Onii-chan's love. She suspected that her Onii-chan liked big breasts, Sakura, his former lover, was well-gifted in that departement after all. So these two, the two with the biggest breasts, were on the top of her list of potential enemies.

They walked over to Issei's side, quietly talking to themselves. From what she heard, she could only puzzle together that they weren't working together with the Fallen Angel in any way. It more sounded as if they were enemies. Also, they seemed to have predicted his death and meeting with the Fallen Angel.

After reaching his side and crouching down, Illya could see a faint red glow and eight small things entering Issei's chest. She could literally feel how his body structure changed to resemble theirs, and after a small time the boy started breathing again. The spectacle ended with a magic circle, transporting all three of them away.

Illya didn't know what to make of this scene. Basically, a Fallen Angel killed a teenage boy because he was a potential threat. He possessed something even he was not aware of and sounded like a strong magical weapon of sorts. Said boy was revived by the enemies of that Fallen Angel, basically resulting in them gaining the boy and the weapon. And without a doubt, Rias and Akeno will teach Issei how to use that thing. All in all, the Fallen Angel just strenghtened her opposition by killing her prey. Illya had to surpress a laugh, that was hilarious.

It wasn't until half an hour later that Illya left her impromptu hiding place and went back home. She didn't encounter any more interesting scenes or beings though.

To say that Shirou was shocked at her news would have been an understatement. Illya giggled at his expression, it was just too funny. What she had told him might be bad news, but she was almost glad she witnessed everything just to see his face.

The first thing he asked made her heart jump. "Are you alright Illya? They didn't notice you or anything? I would rather have you alive than some information about what's going on." He said seriously.

Instead of focussing on the fact that she might have saved Issei's life by intervening, he was worried about her well-being! If this had been during the beginning of the Holy Grail war, he wouldn't have spared more than a thought for her, after ensuring that she was fine. No, he would have left the house immediately, searching for Issei to see if he needed help or trying to find the Fallen Angel to get them to stop killing people. The later one was almost suicidal, charging their stronghold without knowing where it was or how many of them were there.

So she flashed him her most brilliant smile. "I am alright. I found the whole thing more interesting than scary. None of them were a threat to me, at least not alone. I am not just some small girl, Onii-chan." She said the last sentence with a pout. Maybe it was her imagination or wishful thinking, but the faintest hint of red appeared on her brother's cheeks after seeing her pouting.

"That's good, I'm glad! I don't know what I would be doing if I lost you as well.." The small homuncolous could see his face saddening, and his voice trembled slightly.

Illya stood up from where she was sitting on the couch and sat down next to him, leaning against his chest. "It's okay Onii-chan. I'm here. And I won't ever leave your side, no matter what."  
With these words, she buried her face in his chest, hiding her expression. If he could see her face now, he would know that something was wrong and she couldn't allow that. They had to enjoy their time together! No, that just strenghtened her resolve to not tell him about her looming death. Soon she would have to prepare him for that, so that he wouldn't break, but until then.. She was going to enjoy this!

His words didn't help the guilty feeling in her chest. "I know, Illya. You are the most precious person in this world for me, and I will do everthing to protect you!" He pulled her a bit closer in a comfortable hug. She tightened her grip on his shirt, blushing heavily at his words.

"..you are for me as well, idiot." Illya mumbled, trying to calm down her fast beating heart. How could he just say something like that without being embarassed? She didn't think she would ever find an answer to that, except of his block-headed mindset. He couldn't take hints to save a life..

They stayed like that for a while, enjoying the other's embrace and the feeling of warmth and safety. Being comfortable like this, Illya was about to fall asleep when she felt her brother shifting.  
"So what are we going to do about it? We can't let these Fallen Angel run around the city, doing whatever they want. The Occult Research Club and the Student Council might be watching the city but they can't be everywhere." Shirou asked.

Illya sat up and looked at him. "We have to start with finding their base, afterwards we can decide what to do about them. Right now, they are only attacking people with one of these Sacred Gears and I think they are very rare. She said they were created by god after all. So I don't think they will actively kill others for the next few days. Also, they would draw too much attention to them if they just killed innocents."

"You're right." Shirou nodded. "That should give us some days to find out about their objective and where they are hiding. And when we did that.."

Illya perked up at that. "We kill them!" Her cheerful voice seemed just a bit off for such a dire statement.

"I wish you wouldn't be so happy about that.. Killing someone should always be the last possible option. Only if they are unreasonable or continuing on their path regardless of our words, killing them is excusable." She said with a sigh. He tried to shift his position in a lecture pose, but he didn't have Rin's experience with them and ended up in a funny looking position.

"Muh ~, Onii-chan! You are no fun." The white-haired girl replied. "I will do as you say for now, but if they endanger you, I will definitely kill them!" Her tone didn't leave any room for arguments, so Shirou just accepted it. They had this argument before and he had lost it every time.

…

The sun was burning brightly in the afternoon sky, no clouds to block its rays from reaching the earth. It was an surprisingly warm day for this season and not only Shirou felt uncomfortable hot in his school uniform. Next to him, Illya was complaining loudly about the unbearable heat and how she wished to be back int germany where it was nice and cold. Well, maybe a bit too cold where Illya lived. He googled the place of her old home once and wasn't surprised to find the location in the very south, on a mountain. Normal german weather was similar to the japanese one.

The two siblings were walking back from school after an exhausting day. The previous few nights they had spent searching for traces of the Fallen Angel, but they hadn't been able to find a clear trail. Today they planned on searching through the area around the abandoned old church and were walking in its direction.

After arriving at a park Illya insisted to go in to 'buy' (Shirou was forced to pay for her) ice cream, he saw a strange sight. A girl who didn't exactly look lost, but as if searching something. She had blonde hair and green eyes, and was standing a head taller than Illya, later wasn't really hard in his opinion. The most notable about her was her attire – a proper nun outfit with cap and everything. As he was wondering what she was doing here, a white blur suddenly jumped at the girl with a cry.

"ASIA!" That sounded like Illya. But what would cause her to suddenly hug a nun in the middle of the street? Shirou never met her nor heard about her from Illya. He knew about her weakness for cute things, and that girl was cute in her outfit, no question. But even then she normally surpressed her urge to hug them and just directly lecherous looks at them. Like the one time she wanted to go to a maid café...

"U-uh? Illya? Is that you?" The girl was talking in english with a strange pronunciation, he suspected she wasn't Japanese, just like her looks. But she didn't seem to be British as well, if her matter of speaking was any indication. Maybe she was a nun right from the Vatican.

"I should be asking you that! You told me that you were too busy to stay until he woke up and then left without saying anything!" Illya accused her, causing her to look at the small girl unbelievingly. Shirou looked at them, confusion written in his face.

"W-without saying anything? I told you where I am going next and what I am going to do, but.. y-you were very concentrated on your boyf-" She stopped mid-sentence, her look suddenly becoming fearful. Shirou swore that he could feel Illya's malicious aura from five meters away, but what would cause her to be that angry?

"My what?" Illya's tone was more sweet than ever and he swore he saw Illya's face changing into one of Rin's scary grins. Asia took a step back.

Her reply was spoken hastily. "Y-your b-brother.."

"Oh, that's right!" She exclaimed cheerfully, grabbing a confused Shirou who finally closed the distance. Jugding the look on Asia's face, not only he was taken aback by Illya's sudden mood change. "Here he is now, better then before!"

"I'm glad. I was worried, sometimes even though the body healed, the mind can have suffered irreparable damage already." She smiled with relief.

"Excuse me? Illya, who is this and how do you know her? You sound quite close." Shirou finally voiced his curiousity. What were they talking about, it almost sounded as if he was the subject.

"Ah, how rude of me. Onii-chan, this is Asia. She helped me healing you after.. well, after _arriving_." She gave Shirou a pointed look. "Asia, I am sure you remember my brother. He is regretably hard to forget." She ignored his annoyed look.

"Nice to meet you, Asia. I am Shirou Emiya, thank you very much for helping me!" He gave Asia a respectful bow. If he remembered correctly, Illya did mention a nun helping her back then.. Could this young girl really be the one? He had expected someone looking more.. Well, more experienced than her. But there was no sense in doubting his sister's word. After all, Illya looked like a eleven years old girl and not like the twenty years old prodigy in magecraft she was.

"Nice to meet you as well! I am happy that you are back in good health, when I found you, you were half-dead." Asia smiled at him happily. Her smile reminded Shirou of someone.. It almost was as if she was genuily happy for him that he was healed. Her smile didn't show any hint of pride. No, she didn't smile because she was happy she healed him. She smiled because he wasn't hurt. It fascinated him.

Next to him, Illya was faking a cough and he noticed how annoyed she was. How long did he stare at the nun?

"I'm sorry, you just reminded me of someone. May I ask how you healed me? I was quite battered back then, but when I woke up three days later I was perfectly fine.." That was one of the things that bothered him. Illya had told him about the healing, but she was too focussed on her own task to ask. And afterwards Asia had to leave, while Illya was too tired to even move. The only thing she could remeber was a green glow where Aisa placed her hands. Was it a form of magecraft?

Illya seemed to expect something along the line. "Why don't we go for tea somewhere? I am sure that's not something to be discussed in public."

Shirou nodded in agreement and Asia's smile widened at the proposition. "That's a good idea! Why don't you come to the church with me? I moved in there two days ago."

"The church? Are you talking about the old church close to here? I thought it was abandoned?"

"No, that's nor true! A few people are living there, though Raynare-sama mentoined that they only moved in recently as well.." Shirou blinked curiously. Did that mean the church was planning on retaking the area? Could there be executors? Normally it would be too dangerous to go there, but with Asia, the chances of getting attacked were low.

"Show us the way then! I can't wait to meet them and to drink your tea." Illya's voice sounded even more enthusiastic than before. Could she be thinking something similar as Shirou? But why was she so happy about it..?

…

Illya and Shirou were sitting in a small room, waiting for Asia to finish the preparations for the tea. She had shot down every attempt Shirou done to help her, claiming it to be the poor manners to let her guests do the work. So instead they were seated on two old and uncomfortable chairs, listening to the noises of the tea-set clappering in the small kitchen.

"Here you go!" Their host entered the small room with a pot of tee and three mugs.

""Thank you"" Both of them exclaimed at the same time. That earned them a bemused look from Asia.

"So Asia, how did you heal my Onii-chan?" Illya said between taking sips from her tea.

"Hm? Oh, you must be talking about my Sacred Gear, 'Twilight Healing'! Here, look." She pointed to the two rings she was wearing on her middle fingers. "It allows me to heal any injury, even fatal ones as long as the person is still alive."

Illya nearly spat out her tea in shock. "Any injury?! That's a very powerful gift to have, Asia!" Shirou nodded, recovering from his shock as well. If that was true, then her Sacred Gear possessed similar powers to Avalon when reunited with Saber. Well, expect the transport to ever distant utopia of course. But that was still a power Magi in their home world would kill over.

Speaking of which.. Shirou glared at the little white-haired girl next to him who had adopted a calculating and slightly wanting look. She felt his look and sighed in disappointment. He shook his head, she didn't really just thought about stealing from the person that saved him, right?

"Thank you! I am very happy that god gave me this amazing power." Her look conflicted her words, but she didn't say more.

"God, hm? Onii-chan and I are curious. We never heard about Sacred Gears before, are there more of them? And who has them?"

"The original God of the Bible created the Sacred Gears as part of His system to enact miracles on Earth. Only humans have them and they can be very powerful. For example, it is said that there are some Sacred Gears who have the power to surpass God. For who has them.. I was told that they wielders have to have a strong desire. It would certainly make sense, since I have the desire to help people."

"They sound very useful, indeed. Too bad that we don't have one.." Illya trailed off.

Shirou on the other hand was looking at the door with worry. A few seconds ago he noticed a smell increasing in intensity. The smell of feathers, raven feathers. He didn't know how he knew the smell of black feathers, but it got stronger every second. In the beginning he could only make out a faint trace of it lingering everywhere, but now..

The door openend and revealed a tall man standing in the doorway. "Asia, I wasn't informed that you had visitors." He said, sparring only a short look at Shirou and Illya.

"I am sorry, Donaseek-sama! They are people I met before and just ran into at the park. When I came back, I couldn't find you or the others." Her voice was careful and polite, her apology accompanied by a small bow.

"Just don't let it happen again. Raynare wants to speak to you, so your guests have to go." His voice didn't leave any room for arguments. Shirou was about to reprimand him for his manners when he felt Illya's small hand on his lower arm. He looked at her and she slowly shook her head, as if saying 'not yet'. With a sour look at the Fallen Angel in the doorway, he sat back down. Risking a fight in this closed space with Asia in the way was too dangerous. Especially when they didn't know how many else were here. He knew that, but he didn't have to like it. Wouldn't it be for Asia's and Illya's safety, he would have confronted the 'man' here and now.

"Thank you for tea. I hope we will meet again, Asia!" Illya thanked the nun and dragged a startled Shirou with her through the door. He heard her shouting "Goodbye" after their leaving forms.

"So... the Fallen Angel have their camp in the abandoned church. And Asia is helping them or at least being manipulated to help them. I can't imagine her knowingly helping killers. Her 'Twilight Healing' isn't a threat for them, but useful, so they would rather have her alive. But we can't leave her in their hands, what if they found a way to steal it from her?"

"I agree with you Onii-chan. What do you say, tomorrow evening we are attacking the church? That would leave us enough time for preparations, my wires would be here by then as well. And you can finalize the runes I showed you on your clothes." Illya suggested to her brother.

After exiting the church, Illya had quicky built a small bounded field around it, not detectable through any means, to count the numbers of Fallen Angel coming in and leaving. If they were lucky, by tomorrow they should have an estimate about them and the chances of an attack. They had to take them out quickly then, so they couldn't use Asia as an hostage. It was a solid attack plan, infiltrating the base and getting out in the fastest time possible.

"Wait.. Wires? Why would we need them?" Illya never mentoined wires before, in the whole Holy Grail war she didn't use them in any fashion. He knew that she crept around town at nights sometimes, maybe it had something to do with that.

"Hmm, Onii-chan. That's a surprise~" She giggled. "But even so, I can think of a LOT of ways to use them.." Finishing her statement with a wink, Illya took another bite of her dinner.

"Is that so? I can't.. Uh. I-Illya! W-what are y-you saying?" Shirou stuttered, his face turning as red as a tomato. But instead of answering, she gave him a mischievous smirk.

"By the way, Onii-chan." Illya said, acting as if his outburst didn't happen. "Today I would say you improved this meal by.. 60%. That's really good, considering its commonness."

Todays dinner was Nikujaga, and as always, Shirou cooked it better than the original. It has become a trend that after every meal, Illya was evaluating Shirou's cooking in comparison to the version she knew. Of course, she didn't know a lot of Japanese dishes, only Western ones, but in the last few weeks they did some trips to restaurants. That didn't only help her evaluating, but also enabled Shirou to steal the recipes, allowing him to cook them at home.

"I'm glad you like it. What are you planning to do tomorrow after school?"

"Hm... I need to prepare some things, but my research can't continue without the wires.. Which Asia's rescue with the appliance of my magecraft. What about you Onii-chan?"

"I will relax, so my prana reserves go up to their maximum. Would you mind if I watch you working on your new project?" Shirou rubbed the back of his head thoughtfully.

"So you want to watch me while I work on a new magecraft? Could it be that you want to steal all my well-kept secrets?" Illya asked in a faked hurt voice. She brushed away a non-existant tear under her right eye. "My brother is using my affection for his own greed.. How cruel."

Shirou looked at her in shock. "Illya, I would never do that! It's not like I could use it anyways."

"Suuuure." The small girl suddenly had a mischievous smirk on her face. "Let's make an exchange! You can watch my research and the price is you, taking me out on a date!"

"Huh?"

"Geez, Illya" She was skipping happily next to him and dragging him in direction of the church. "Slow down a bit. We still have at least one hour left.."

Shirou had wanted her to stay at home, of course. It would be too dangerous and he didn't want to risk loosing her, he had said. But she had stayed resolute, arguing that they didn't know the dangers and that she could have killed him easily during the war with her magic. He conceded to that point and Illya was glad about it. Right now, she may have been the weaker one, combat-wise, but in every other aspect of magecraft, she was by far superior. And they would need that for overcoming bounded fields and traps. She had to promise him to not take any risk, though. Not that she planned to keep that promise if he was in danger.

Suddenly, she noticed a very distressed boy running in their direction. He had brown hair and wore the same school uniform as Illya and Shirou. But the thing that caught her attention was a big hole in that uniform, as if someone had stabbed him with.

"Issei-san?" Shirou called out, causing the boy to stop and look at him. "Is everything alright? You look worried.."

"Asia.. They took Asia with them.. She ran away and I couldn't protect her.. I need to save her, need to convince Buchou.." Issei muttered under his breath.

Illya perked up at these words. "What about Asia, what happened?"

"Yuma-chan, no, Raynare kidnapped her for some ritual tonight! I have to help her!" He screamed at the two. Suddenly he noticed who he was talking too and paled a bit. "Emiya-senpai.. uh. Sorry, I have to hurry, something important came up!" With these words he sprinted away as far as he could.  
Illya gave her brother a curious glance. 'Why does his fear come from?' She wondered, but that wasn't important now. He said that Asia ran away and was captured, seemingly for some ritual this night. That couldn't be good.

"Onii-chan, if he tells Rias-senpai about that, they will distract them long enough for us to make a move? What are you saying?"

"That's right. While they storm the main entrance, we will go around the back. They shouldn't be in trouble or? You said that your bounded field only counted four Fallen Angel?"

She nodded. "That's true. So, let's go!"

…

Mitelt was anxious. Raynare-sama had tasked her and her companions to guard the back entrance of the church, telling them that the devils, the devils that were an actual threat, would come from there. In her own words, 'The insect with the twice-critical couldn't even begin to understand my power' and it was very likely he would just charge in from the front entrance. And that was guarded by this crazy exorcist.. Seriously, that guy gave her the chills. She was only a hundred-twenty years old, but she was sure that only a few were as mad as him. The only thing which made him work with them was the promise of killing a lot of devils.

Well, she better didn't think too much about him. She would be thankful to the devils if they actually managed to kill them. Raynare-sama wasn't in any danger, such a mighty Fallen Angel with four wings, couldn't fall.

So why was she feeling so anxious? It wasn't because of the upcoming confrontation, they prepared enough for the heir of the Gremory clan and the thunder priestess. They might be ridiculous strong, but against three Fallen Angel wielding holy spears.. They weren't likely to win.

Her companions, Donaseek-sama and Kalawana-sama sat on a nearby tree with a relaxed expression. They had fought a lot more battles than she did, they lived through _the_ war. Mittelt didn't like them too much, they were intimidating, not accepting any failures and punished her hard in the last few weeks. No, they weren't how she expected the Fallen Angel to be. She herself didn't fall too long ago, only 50 years have passed since then. Azazel-sama, her leader, was kind and understanding towards her, but his subordinates.. not so much.

She was loyal to Azazel-sama. That's why she followed Raynare-sama to this mission. She asked her directly if she wanted to contribute to Azazel-sama rise to glory and of course she did! So she ended up in this city, on a supposed observing mission. When did it get to this?

It started when Raynare-sama killed the young boy they were supposed to keep an eye on. He seemed unassuming, his Sacred Gear not awakened and totally unaware of anything concerning the three factions. And then Raynare-sama killed him. What's worse, he got revived and now he was their enemy. Thankfully his Sacred Gear was a weak one, a common one.

Then there were the times Fred, the mad exorcist escaped to 'have fun'. He ended up killing a family and nearly lost Asia in the process.

That girl was the latest thing Mitelt didn't feel comfortable about. Asia was a former Holy Maiden, she might have been casted out of the church, but did she deserve that? Did she deserve what Raynare-sama was going to do with her? Yes, after extracting Asia's Sacred Gear, which would kill the nun in the process, Raynare-sama would be far more powerful and valuable to Azazel-sama. But why didn't they just take the girl? Nowhere in his original orders, he ordered them to do something like that.

But Raynare-sama said that he contacted her directly with these new orders and so she followed. She followed her every order perfectly, not wanting to disappoint Azazel-sama.

She was so lost in her thoughts, that she didn't notice the subtle shift in her companions behaviour. Their relaxed stances turned to something more alert and combat-suitable. No, she only noticed something was wrong when two persons stepped in their view and they weren't the ones they expected.

"Hoh? Aren't you the two from yesterday? The ones visiting the little nun? What are you doing here?" Donaseek mocked them.

"They must be lost!" Mitelt heard Kalawana's voice through the clearing. "If you promise to run away, I will kill you painlessly." Her tone was delightful, as if she was happy about a bit of warm-up before the actual battle.

"I will have to disappoint you." The red-haired boy replied. He wore a black jeans and a leather jacket with a red T-Shirt underneath. His voice didn't shake one bit, he looked unconcerned about the killing intent her two companions emitted. "If you hand Asia over now, we will spare your lives."

The three Fallen Angel couldn't conceal their surprise. Who did he think he was? It was clear that he was a human, just like the little girl next to him. The girl had snow white hair and wore a white dress. The odd thing was that she seemed to carry around ten pounds of wires. They were slung across her tiny body, nearly covering her upper-body completely. How could a small girl carry that weight? But that didn't matter now, no. The important question was: How could they hope to compare to even a single Fallen Angel? Or were they simply mad?

Her companions must have thought the same thing, because a second later, loud laughter boomed across the clearing. "YOU want US to surrender? Hahaha! I didn't expect that!"

Suddenly the small girl spoke up, adressing her brother, but speaking loud enough for everyone to hear. "Onii-chan, you asked them to surrender and they refused. Can we kill them now? Asia is waiting!" She smiled sardonically.

Mitelt was taken aback. Who was this little girl to speak as if killing them was just a nuisance? She didn't have any more time to think about that, because Donaseek arrived at the end of his patience.

"Okay, that's enough. Just die and learn your place you pity humans!" With these words, he summoned two spears of holy light and hurled them at the odd pair.

Shirou looked at the spear without a hint of worry. They had talked about this situation beforehand and Illya was going to use her magic to block them. Of course he could have projected a few blades to intercept them, but that way he had time to use his Structural Grasp on them.

"Trace on."

Od began to pump through his magic circuits and he _looked_ at the spears. And found out that they weren't spears at all. Just as Illya expected them to be, they were compressed holy light, harder than any steel and at the same time lighter than a dagger. And extremly deadly to everything demonic.

He couldn't replicate them or save the blueprint in his Reality Marble, he couldn't even grasp the experience of the wielder from them, because they were created only a second ago. But that was fine, because he found an important information. They weren't superior to his Noble Phantasms. All this registered in his brain in a fraction of a second. When he finished his analysis, the spears were almost upon him, but Illya activated her magic in time.

The spear was blocked by a giant bird. But not a normal bird, no. It was a giant bird, made of magical influenced wires. A homuncolous capable of defending against attacks, with the ability to act without commands from its creator. The magic of Illya's mother, Irisviel. Shirou had to admit, Illya's own magic, the small white birds who gave Rin so much trouble, were powerful enough. But this thing, it was just too much. He doubted that even he would stand a chance against a small army of them.

Confusion was written about the Fallen Angels' faces and Shirou used this lull in the battle to project his favourite swords, the ones he perfected his fighting style with. Kanshou and Bakuya, the "married" twin swords representing yin and yang.

The king of Wu had ordered Gān Jiàng to forge the imperial sword, but he couldn't think about ways to forge such a sword. Seeing his desperation, his wife Mò Yé had threwn herself into the furnance in front of her husband, because to forge swords reaching the reals of God, a human sacrifice had to be made. Grieving, he had forged two swords, but kept one in his position. When the king had found out, he had the blacksmith killed.

They weren't the strongest swords in Shirou's amory by far, but they had several advantages. For one, the tracing time was incredible low. The other advantage was the main ability of the swords. Their strong bond with each other, not only allowed them to attract each other, but it was also said that they will return to their owner even if events caused them to be lost.

"Onii-chan, I will take the jerk. He tried to take your life and deserves a punishment. Try not to take too long for killing the other two." Illya said, her cheerful personality still present in the midst of the battle.

"Hai." Shirou nodded. It was a good strategy, her birds could attack independently, enabling her to use her magecraft on top of that. Furthermore, she already ordered one of her birds in a guard position behind Shirou, so that he could concentrate more freely on one opponent at a time.

It was then, that the Fallen Angel moved. Kalawana and Donaseek both summoned spears and flew in Shirou's direction, but the male Fallen Angel was forced to retreat because of heavy magic attacks coming from the birds. Kalawana on the other hand moved in without a problem and performed an upper-hand strike aimed at his head. He swiftly brought his swords together and reflected the strike.

The force behind the blow made him slide backwards for a few meters. His arms didn't feel numb or gave away thanks to his reinforcement, but he still felt the blow. He adjusted his reinforcement, pouring more prana in the small gaps he could find, hardening his bones and muscles. The next blow was easily averted. Now that his opponent didn't have the advantage of gravitation she had after jumping from a tree and accelerating with her two black feathery wings, he could easily deflect the stab aimed at his shoulder.

He noticed that she didn't aim at a vital area. It seemed like she wanted to play around with him for a bit before killing him. He could live with that, he didn't come this far without making use of his opponent's arrogance. Paired with his sword style, it enabled him to win agaisnt opponents with higher skill.

Yes, his own sword style. Created to fight servants and beings with skills and powers far above his own. It relied on a simple tactic. He left deliberate openings in his attacks and blocks, forcing them to exploit them just like any trained fighter would. But since he created the opening, he would already know where his opponent was going to strike, allowing him to block his opponent's attacks without looking.

It was suicidal at best and just plainly stupid. But it worked. No matter how much Illya complained about it, saying he deliberately put himself in danger, she couldn't argue with the results. So he continued to use it and perfected it with Archer's memory. The ultimate technique against beings like the one he was fighting now.

Barely a few seconds passed and he already blocked two dozen strikes at his shoulders, heart, armpits, legs and stomach. His opponent's face became increasingly frustrated until she disengaged.  
"Why can't I reach you? What is this? Mitelt, stop day-dreaming and help me out!" She cried with a furious voice.

"Yes, Kalawana-sama." The small Fallen Angel replied. He could see how she summoned her own spear made out of holy light and readied her wings.

He evaluated the situation. They were physically superior to him, but he was used to that. Their spears didn't reach Noble Phantasm quality, but would withstand at least ten blows. He could match their speed and strength with reinforcement, but he didn't want to use too much prana, he didn't know if they had to fight the other Fallen Angel afterwards. At least they weren't a match for his skill, he could work with that.

Deciding to stick to Kanshou and Bakuya for the moment, he threw the swords at the older Fallen Angel who dedflected them without much effort. However, that was exactly what he expected. Both of the Fallen Angel were confused, since he was apparently weaponless now and the smaller Fallen Angel who flied at him, hesitated in dealing a killing blow. That hesitation proved fatal.

Judging the path of her thrust by the movements of her shoulders, he side-stepped it by bending his upper-body to the right. He then raised his empty hands, his favourite twin swords flickering to live within them, and stabbed them in her side. The girl cried out in pain and collapsed a few meters behind him, her spear shattering after she lost the focus to maintain it.

"You.. You are full of surprises. Don't think because you defeated Mitelt, that it's easier now. She only was a hindrance anyway, following us because she thought Azazel-sama told us to do so. That gullible girl didn't even suspect that Raynare was acting out of her own accord. Ha!" She snickered. Lazily she blocked one of the magic attacks Illya's familiar was shooting at her.

"This thing has annoyed me too much. Nobody stands against the might of the Fallen Angel!" Behind her, dozens of spears of light formed, shooting at the familiar and shredding it to pieces before Shirou could react.

"Now, come and die, human."

Shirou readied his swords. "You talk too much. It's distracting." And then he rushed at her, closing the distance between them in a heartbeat.

He lashed out with Bakuya, but she summoned another spear in his way, blocking the white ebony blade. However, she was a moment to late to dodge his other blade and it drew a small line of blood across her cheek.

She growled at him, unleashing all her fury in her thrust and slashes, and Shirou was briefly forced in the defensive. He fell back into his sword style, leaving wide openings which the Fallen Angel tried to take advantage of out of reflex. He deflected them easily and met every single one of her swings.

After twenty clashes in the short span of a minute, he blocked another attack and.. the spear shattered. Looking totally confused, she wasn't able to summon another spear in time and instead jumped backwards to get away from his onslaught.

"Impressive. To hold out that long against me, you are not a normal human.. Let's end this, shall we? Show me you strongest attack!" She shouted, smiling with glee. Her whole body shivered with anticipation. He nodded. Everyone had the right to demand this, if Saber had taught him one thing, then it was pride on a battlefield. He didn't have this pride, no, but his opponents.

The red-haired magus saw her summoning another spear and smirked slightly. She was in the perfect position. He threw his second pair of swords at the feathered figure and traced his final set of twin swords.

"Spirit and technique, flawless and firm"

She blocked his swords and he rushed forwards to meet her. He looked behind her to follow the trail of the first set of swords which he head thrown nearly a minute ago.

"Our strength rips the mountains"

The older Fallen Angel followed his line of sight and paled slighty. In the last second she managed to summon to light spears in their path and deflected them again.

"Our swords split the water"

That caused her to be too late to meet his swings and Kanshou and Bakuya left a shallow cross-formed wound on her torso. She readied herself for his next attack.

"Our names reach the imperial villa"

Shirou continued to chant and slowly, the swords in his hand started to change their form. He flooded them with prana and cracks started to form. The twin swords got longer and unstable, until they were mere shards, just holding together because of the prana inbetween the pieces. Now they were broken Noble Phantasm, holding so much energy that they would explode with the slightest touch.

Normally, no one would dare to break a Noble Phantasm. It might have been the most powerful and destructive attack possible, but it came with a price – the destruction of the Noble Phantasm. It was a one-time only attack, shattering the swords and rendering them useless. On a battlefield, with only one weapon, even such a mighty attack would be useless in the end.

Thankfully, Shirou was a faker. A faker who could summon the same swords again and again, breaking them all the while. So he didn't have any regrets if he destroyed his prana constructs.

"The two of us cannot hold the heavens together."

The faker saw the look of horror on the Fallen Angel's face. His swords resembled wings now, deathly wings. She blocked the swords and they shattered, sending thousands of shards at her. She tried to fly upwards, desperation in her movements, to avoid the incoming death, but the two of the formerly thrown copies of Kanshou and Bakuya bit themselves in her shoulders, pushing her back down.

Shirou looked impassively as his opponent was torn to pieces in front of him. It was the first time he used the technic, but not the first time he saw it being used. In Archer's memories, he had seen this attack a hundred times. It was a bit disappointing really. He still couldn't reach his alternate future self, _his_ attack would have been fast and more destructive.

He shrugged. It was useless to think about that now. He turned in the direction where he last saw Illya to see how her fight was going.

…

Illya was whistling happily. It has been a long time since she had a real opponent to fight against. She knew she had a sardistic side and it was far too long that she let it out. She hadn't needed to, in the last few weeks. After the Holy Grail war and the arrival in this new world, there were no real threats. Even those beings in school were nice. And her Onii-chan didn't like it when her eyes sparkled with malicious intent.

Now however, he was busy defending against two Fallen Angel. So he wouldn't notice her change in personality and if she played around with her prey for a bit. Finally, she could drop her cheerful school personality. She liked to be happy and to act the age she was looking. But it was just a part of her and not all of her.

Like most magi, Illya had developed several personalities. Magic was performed by hypnotizing oneself, and most of the times that was followed by a change of character. She had three personalities right now, the cheerful little girl, the more mature woman stuck in a girl's body (she only used that one around Shirou) and her sardistic battle personality.

She knew that Shirou had four personalities. One normal one, the kind and gentle boy who helped everyone as best as he could, a battle one, in which he analyzed every single detail, progressed the information and executed the most effective course of action. In this personality he surpressed his emotions, didn't hesitate to kill and most importantly, actived his _Eye of the Mind (false)_. His other two personalities were an analytical one for performing standard thaumaturgy and, most surprisingly, a cooking personality.

She shook her head at the last one, that was just too much like him to develop his own personality for cooking.. She giggled. A loud voice focussed her attention back to the battle.

"What are you laughing at little girl?! As soon as I finish with your little birds, I will torture you until you can't stop screaming!" The Fallen Angel shouted at her. He was currently busy with dodging the magic attacks of her bird-familiars.

She had used all the wires she had with her to construct four hawk-like familiars. She could theoretically create and control more, but only half of the wires she ordered online had arrived in time. So she had to make do with what she had.

Illya ordered her familiars to circle the flying Fallen Angel and to intercept if he started to fly in her direction. For a minute she looked on with a smile as he tried to defend himself against the onslaught of small magical attacks. Then she saw that he had enough and was seriously furious now. That was good, it would lead him to make mistakes.

He lashed out at the nearest bird and cleanly cut it in two. The magic-controlled wires fell down uselessly. Her smile didn't falter one bit. Everything was going as she had planned it. The man roared and summoned dozens of light spears around him, shooting down two of her familiars, until only one was remaining.

He smiled fiercly. "Now you are defenseless. It was fun, little girl, but that's it for you."

"Then come if you think you can beat me. Stop running away you coward." Her smile widened and she saw how it only caused the Fallen Angel to become more furious. He flapped his wings and accelerated straight towards her. After crossing half the distance between them in an instant, the last familiar blocked his way. He lashed out against it.

This time, his spear didn't hit. Right in front of his eyes, the bird lost his form and the magic-powered wires hang loosely in the air for a second. Only to bind him a moment later. He was unable to use his wings and his hands were bound to his side.

The small homuncolous happily reached to her hair with her right hand.

"Degen."

Four strands of hair started to glow and formed four small swords, waiting for her command to shoot at the enemy. She saw the Fallen Angel's eyes widen in fear and gave him one last wave, before he commanded her hair-swords to kill him.

"That's for trying to hurt my Onii-chan!"

…

Illya happily skipped to her brothers side. The fight wasn't too exciting or hard, but it was a good test for her new Mystic Code. She saw him using Crane Wing Three Realms and frowned a bit at the sight. Wasn't that totally overkill?

She saw him looking in her direction and waved. "Onii-chan! Did you finally finish?" She asked with a teasing smile.

"Yeah.. You know, I had two opponents, so technically I was faster then you." He smirked at her.

"Pff, only because I decided to play around a bit." She pouted and smiled inwardly at seeing his slight blush. He couldn't withstand her cute pout, yay!

They stopped bantering when they heard a painful groan behind them. Illya looked at the small Fallen Angel who was loosing a lot of blood from a deep wound in her side.

"Onii-chan, that one isn't quite dead.. Do you want me to finish it?" She shot a curious look at her brother.

"Wait, Illya. From what I gathered she was decieved by the others and didn't attack me until she was ordered to.. I think we can use her otherwise."

Illya glared at him, releasing a bit of killing intent and saw him shivering. She smiled at him dangerously and replied with a very sweet voice. "Use her otherwise? Just what is Onii-chan thinking, I wonder? I always thought you weren't a pervert.."

Shirou gulped. "W-what? No, t-that's not it! I-I was thinking about sending her back as messenger! That's the truth!"

"Hm, that would work. If we patch her up and send her to this Azazel guy, we could tell him through her that these guys" She pointed at the two dead Fallen Angel. "were doing some stuff behind his back. Furthermore, she saw that we know how to protect ourselves and it's not like we used anything flashy.." She rubbed her chin in thought.

"You! Do you understand me?" She directed her question at the shivering Fallen Angel on the ground who nodded once.

"Good. As soon as we healed you a bit, you are going to contact this Azazel and tell him about what happened. Also, tell him that this city is now under our protection, so he should better not try anything funny!"

After making the small Fallen Angel repeat her words, Shirou cut in. "What is your name then?"

"M-Mitelt.." Her fearful voice was barely audible over the the wind in the trees in the background.

"I am Shirou and this is Illya. Nice to meet you, Mitelt-san, I hope you live up to our expectations!" He smiled at her kindly and Mitelt stopped shivering for a moment. She looked at him in wonder and continued to do so even when Illya started to heal her wounds.

...

After taking care of the last Fallen Angel and sending her on her way, the two now slightly bloodstained siblings continued their advance to the church. Only to stop and look in wonder, as an unconcious Fallen Angel shattered the window and landed right in front of their feet.

"Now, that's a surprise. Onii-chan, what do you say? Why don't we bring _this.._ " Illya pointed at the unconcious Fallen Angel at their feet. "..with us and see if they want to have it back?" Shirou chuckled at her words. That was the last Fallen Angel they detected so that meant Issei had suceeded in rescuing Asia. Relief flooded through him and he smiled at the small girl.

"Why not, I am sure they would welcome the gesture. And since we revealed ourselves to the Fallen Angel, the others should be informed as well. How about an introduction?"

…

Rias Gremory was confused. Okay, the plan went well, but it went way too well to be true. They didn't even encounter the other three Fallen Angel they were told about. Right after Issei left to save Asia, Akeno and her teleported to meet some allied Fallen Angel. They told them about Raynare's actions which were against her orders of a simple observation and who she was with. Three other Fallen Angel should have been with her. But they couldn't find a trace of them now, her detection spell coming out blank.

She just hoped they fled the scene after hearing about their assault on the church and left Raynare behind. The other thing that went great was the matter of Issei and Asia. Issei unlocked the next stage of his Sacred Gear, the Welsh Dragon. With this he was now able to double his power every ten seconds, making him incredible strong over time. And all it took was Asia's death!

Of course she was going to resurrect her, her Sacred Gear once they got it back from Raynare, would prove invaluable. The power to heal devils was extremly rare. Additionally, she wouldn't object to living as a devil because of her friendship with Issei.

Now, Issei just punched Raynare unconcious and she unintentionally flew through a window, they had to get her back so they could transfer the Sacred Gear again.

"Koneko, would you be so nice to fetch her?" She asked with a smile. Koneko nodded and went outside.

While they waited, she comforted Issei who sobbed over Asia's dead body. The poor boy really went through a lot today, he was at his end, physically and mentally.

It was then that Koneko entered the church again, wearing a concerned expression on her normally emotionless face.

"Koneko? What is wrong? Where is Raynare?" Her tone was equally concerned. For Koneko to show her emotions that open, something must have happened. Did Raynare wake up and fled? That couldn't be!

Koneko turned her head and looked outside. "Illya-san and Shirou-senpai have her."

Everyone froze at these words. Akeno lost her usual smile, her mouth opening slightly in shock. Kiba stumbled from where he was standing and nearly fell down. Even Issei looked up from where he was sitting with a confused expression.

True to Koneko's words, moments later the door opened fully and Illya stepped through it, wearing a happy smile. Behind her trailed Shirou, carrying Raynare like a sack of potatoes on his right shoulder. They were dressed oddly, instead of their usual school uniforms that all of the Occult Research Club members wore, Shirou wore a black and red outfit and Illya a cute white dress. But the most eye-catching thing were on their clothes – a few bloodstains on Illya's dress and a lot of blood on Shirou's clothes.

Illya waved at them. "Hey~! We found this outside and thought that you may want it back!~" She sung the last part in a cute and innocent voice.

That unnerved Rias more than the whole battle she had been in before. "Illya-san? Shirou-san? What are you doing here? Where did all this blood come from?"

They looked down at themselves, as if they only noticed that now. Shirou openend his mouth to answer, but Illya cut him off. "You know, Onii-chan and I were just trying to visit Asia and ran into these three scaaary Fallen Angel. So we killed them and came to help Asia's rescue."

Her non-chalant tone set everyone at edge. Rias saw Shirou tensing up slightly, but then he rolled his eyes. "Really, Illya, stop that. We heard about Issei's plan and wanted to ensure its success. So we took out the Fallen Angel." Next to her, Rias heard a sharp intake of breath.

"You took out three Fallen Angel by yourselves? That can't be true, you are humans! And young students on top of that." Kiba yelled in disbelieve. Only exorcists could hope to achieve something like that and even they would be hard pressed to fight one Fallen Angel alone, no matter how weak it was. For them to do so without even receiving wounds was imposssible.

"Ah, well. You see, Onii-chan and I are not particular normal." Illya giggled. "Now, where is Asia? We want to make sure she is alright, after all, we owe her quite a bit!"

At that, Rias peerages' gazes turned to look where Issei was sitting with Asia in his arms.

…

Shirou followed the others line of view and found himself looking at Issei, Asia in his arms, sobbing silently. He only needed one glance to see the sad truth – Asia was dead. He was too late again, he couldn't save the people close to him. This girl saved his live without asking anything in return and he had let her die!

He hang his head low in resignation. His hands clenched to fists, not caring about his nails digging into them. The only reason they didn't draw blood was because of Avalon healing them faster than he could damage them. Again. Someone died, and he couldn't save her. He might have discarded his ideals, but Asia, she was a friend, one of the few people he swore to protect no matter what. And now she was dead.

He barely registered when Illya hugged him, her own eyes wet with coming tears. He didn't notice how Illya took his hand into her own, trying to comfort him. He didn't even notice how they woke up Raynare again, extracting the Sacred Gear and planting it back in Asia. Why would he notice? It was pointless, she was dead and there was nothing to change about that. At least they killed this 'Raynare' who had killed her.

But what he did notice was the word "revive". He remembered then. Issei had died before, and was resurrected as one of Rias' species. And he seemed to be his normal self, no sign of mind control or other things. It was as if he had never died.

He could see that Illya perked up at these words as well.

"..revive?" He muttered and he saw everyone turning to him. "What exactly does that mean? Which species do you even belong?" His voice rose with every word, until he nearly screamed the last ones.

"Ara, Shirou-san. You defeated these Fallen Angel without even knowing what we are?" Akeno's usual smile returned, wider than normally.

"What Akeno wants to say, we are devils." Similar to a well-practiced performance, Akeno, Kiba, Koneko and Rias spread their wings behind them. They didn't look similar to the Fallen Angel' ones, instead of black feathers they were bat-like.

Shirou and Illya tensed up, but Rias ignored them and continued. "We can revive a person up to 30 minutes after their death and add them to our peerage. They would then answer to me as their master." The siblings tensed up even more. That sounded awfully similar to the Holy Grail war..

"But you don't have to worry. I know what you are thinking now.. Isn't that the same like slavery? That's not true! They keep their free-will and the only difference from before are the abilities and duties of a devil. No, a peerage is a family, it's more like adoption." She smiled at the two.

Shirou was speechless. Could that be? A devil talking about family.. That's not something you see every day. "..Do it then. But if she prefers to be dead instead of living as a devil, I will kill her." His hardend gaze turned to the crimson-haired beauty. Illya looked up to her brother and squeezed his hand. He was going through a lot of emotions right now and he knew she would support him in his decision. That's all she could do for him.

"Fine." Rias walked over to Asia's corpse and knelt down. She grabbed inside her school uniform and took out a red Bishop piece. After inserting it into Asia's chest with a blinding red glow, the girl started to breath again.

"…Ise-san?" Issei hugged the girl to his chest. Slowly Illya and Shirou walked up to the two.

"Shirou-san? Illya-san? What are you doing here? What's going on?"

It was Illya who spoke up. "To make it short: You died because neither Shirou and me nor Issei-san was fast enough. This girl over there" She lazily pointed at Rias who waved awkwardly at her. "revived you as a devil so you can join her peerage. You now have the chance to live as a devil or die."

Her shocked look caused Shirou to glare at his sister. He knew that she was impatient and wanted to get this over with, but that's no reason to be so rude. But she only shrugged and sent him a look that said 'You would have said the same with different words, so what?' Their attention was turned back to the blonde nun who spoke up.

"Uhm.. I.. As long as I can be with Ise-san, I am happy. He is my only friend!"

Shirou saw the boy tearing up and he himself let out a happy sigh. He would have hated to kill her if she prefered that. He knew it was hypocritical to save people even though they didn't want to be saved, but Asia was a friend. And a friend had the right to choose their fate. Everyone had. He would have argued with her, of course, if she wanted to die, but if she was really that against living as a devil he would have had no other choice. Especially considering her existence before was the ant-thesis to being a devil.

He saw Illya looking a bit annoyed. "Asia, don't forget, we are your friends as well!" She then took Shirou's hand and started to drag him outside. Before she reached the door, she turned around and looked at the devils who were smiling happily at Asia.

"We are going to talk about that tomorrow, aren't we? And then you better explain some things."


	4. 03 The Aftermath

_A/N: Here is the next chapter! I thank you all for your reviews and messages and hope that this chapter won't disappoint. Since I have gotten a lot of questions about Shirou and Illya joining a peerage.. They won't, at least not Rias' or Sona's peerage._

 _I know that my story was similar others up until now, not changing the DxD universe at all. That will change with this and the next chapters. Now that people are aware of Shirou's and Illya's existence, new planes are made and older ones changed. And I let Asia and Issei become devils because I needed Rias peerage to be strong, otherwise they would be kind of useless._

 _This chapter is a bit shorter than the others, I wrote it to prepare for the next Arc, which will start with the next chapter._

 _Lastly, thank you for all your support and please continue to review the story, it helps so much!_

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fate/Stay Night or High School DxD**

 **...:::...**

 **Report on the Fallen Angel Incident by Rias Gremory**

The Fallen Angel Incident has been resolved.

It started with a report of the guardians of the city, High-Class Devils working for Serafall and Sirzechs, two of the four mao and Sona's and mine respective older siblings. Of course, the guardians only patrolled around the city and not in it, something the mao had to promise us. They might not want to leave us unprotected, but until both Sona and I finish university, or at least High School, we are on our own without constant supervision.

The report stated that four Fallen Angel entered our territory and were currently hiding in the old church in the north of the town. They were there on command of Azazel, leader of the Fallen Angel, to scout and evaluate the threat of the Sacred Gear user in the city. That one being Hyoudou Issei, a boy from Kuoh Academy in the second year.

It wasn't until one of the Fallen Angel posed as his girlfriend, that Sirzech found out exactly which Sacred Gear was in the boy's posession. The Welsh Dragon Emperor, one of the twelve Longinus, able to slay gods. We decided it would be fortunate to have him on our site, Sirzechs as a tactical step, I more because he looked cute and his antics never got boring.

The only thing was, one does not control someone with a Longinus, a rule learned in Pompeii, resulting in the death of tens of thousands, after the out of control host of the Welsh Dragon Emperor set the whole city in flames to revenge his deception. Something we can not risk to allow again.

Thankfully, the Fallen Angel helped us in that regard by going against her orders. Instead of merely observing, she killed the boy and basically left him in the park as a present for Akeno and me to pick up. Even though he only possesses a small stack of demonical energy, not even enough to teleport on his own, his Sacred Gear speaks of uncomparable potential. Especially after it changed its form after the fight with the Fallen Angel Raynare, enabling him to boost not only once but up to five times. That amount of boosts will grow with his body, so training has been scheduled.

After that the Fallen Angel acquired a nun called 'Asia Argento', a former Holy Maiden who was outcasted for healing a devil. Her Sacred Gear 'Twilight Healing' therefore possessed a value far above any other Sacred Gears. The ability to heal devils isn't something that exists, no magic could accomplish that.

Issei proved to be very helpful in this situation. He befriended the nun, showing her a kindness she hadn't experienced before and therefore, she developed a strong sense of detachement towards him.

When we were plannening how to have her join the devil ranks, the Fallen Angel helped us again – in performing a ritual to remove her Sacred Gear. After hearing this piece of information from Issei, I sent Koneko and Yuuto to help him, while Akeno and I visited the Fallen Angel to confirm if they were acting on Azazel's orders. It turned out they weren't and we were free to do as we wanted to.

After that we teleported into the basement of the church and helped Yuuto and Koneko cleaning up the remaining executors and went back upstairs to assist Issei and to take out the last three Fallen Angel. However, we were faced with a problem: There were no Fallen Angel left to defeat. Instead, we found someone else.

Emiya Shirou and Illyasviel von Einzbern dragged Raynare's unconcious body back into the church and claimed to have defeated three Fallen Angel on their own. We currently have no proof of their claims, but highly suspect them to be true. For further information, please look at the reports about them.

I revived Asia as a devil and she claimed to be happy about staying with Issei. That concluded the Incident.

In the end, the Fallen Angel Incident supplied my peerage with the addition of two new members. Hyoudou Issei, the red Dragon Emperor, and Asia Argento, with 'Twilight Healing'.

 **...:::...**

 **Report on Emiya Shirou – Gathered with the help of the Fallen Angel Mitelt**

Name: Emiya Shirou (?)

Age: 17 (?)  
Family: Illyasviel von Einzbern (Sister, blood-unrelated)  
No records of parents or other relatives  
Claims to be orphaned and adopted after a huge fire at the age of 6

There is no known information about Emiya Shirou or his adopted sister prior to three months before the end of the 'Fallen Angel Incident'. Official documents state him to be the legal guardian of Illyasviel von Einzbern, even though he hasn't reached the necessary age for that yet. These documents were created only two months ago, leading to the conclusion that they were forged or acquired through unlawful means. It is suspected that he is of Japanese origin because of his flawless Japanese, but his red and slightly white hair together with his tanned skin suggest otherwise.

By chance, the first contact with him and his sister had been done exactly three months ago. Asia Argento, former nun and now resurrected devil, stated that she met both of them on a random field close to a small Japanese city. She recollected that his body was covered in grave wounds, more than a few fatal ones. She offered her help and Illyasviel accepted on her brother's behalf. While she was healing his wounds, she recalled the girl putting her hands on his abnormal left arm and his heart, chanting all the while.

After healing his body and helping Illyasviel to carry him to the nearest motel, she took her leave. The next time she met them, his formerly out of place looking left arm was functioning normally and didn't show any signs of its former state.

His personality is best described as altruistic. Emiya Shirou currently helds the nickname 'Fake Janitor' in Kuoh Academy, after helping the Student Council in countless repair tasks without ever asking for anything in return, stating that he was just happy to help.

The general student body perceives him as kind and helpful, and comfortable to be around, although slightly silent. The later one just being one of his character traits and not out of shyness. He radiates self-confidence and treats everyone with respect.

The only exception being the perverted trio. After catching them peeping on his little sister, he beat them senseless, an action which didn't have any consequences because the Student Council President Sona thought highly of that. He shows signs of overprotectiveness towards his adopted little sister and skips lunch breaks with his classmates in favour of eating with her on the rooftop. She is the only one he opens up to completely and they are very close, even for siblings.

Additionally, Koneko, a friend of the siblings, insisted on including his cooking skills in this report. She states it to be the best food she ever ate, even better than any luxus banquett back in the devil's world.

Emiya Shirou is an average student that excells in physical subjects. He briefly attended the Archery Club, not missing a single shot in two hours, putting more than a hundred arrows in the bulls-eye. He then denied their offer to join the club, stating that 'he can't improve'.

He also visited the Kendo Club, in which he not only triumphed other the Club captain with ease, he also defended and deated against every other club member simultaneously who wanted revenge for their captain. The only sign of the physical activity after all of that was a light sweat stain on his shirt. Skillwise, he could be up to par with Rias Gremory's knight Kiba Yuuto.

Lastly and most importantly, he is highly suspected to be in the possession of a Sacred Gear. The ability to create swords out of thin air together with the unique properties of his swords, points to the Sacred Gear 'Blade Blacksmith' or 'Sword Birth'. These Sacred Gears create swords with different traits, something that would explain the boomerang-like attitude of his black and white swords. His Sacred Gear seems to be extremly capabe, able to destroy a Holy Light Spear of a Middle-Class Fallen Angel.

Additionally to that, he is capable of reinforcing himself, which enables him to fight up to par with two Fallen Angel at the same time and using highly destructive attacks all the while. It is advised to not provoke or engage him until his full capabilities are gathered. Here helps his even temper, he doesn't seem to want to hurt someone, but has no regrets about killing the Fallen Angel.

 **...:::...**

 **Report on Illyasviel von Einzbern – Gathered with the help of the Fallen Angel Mitelt**

Name: Illyasviel von Einzbern (?)

Age: 12 (?)  
Family: Emiya Shirou (Brother, blood-unrelated)  
Recorded to be the heir of a local home-owner, recently deceased

Illyasviel von Einzbern has the same discrepancies in her official documents as Emiya Shirou. While she is undoubtly of German descent, her family is unknow. No family with the name Einzbern has existed for more than 300 years. She claims to be the child of a German noble woman and a Japanese father and that her father adopted Emiya Shirou at the age of 5, after being separated from his family. This in itself is impossible because of their age difference and her being the younger one of the two.

She stated to have met her older brother only recently, after her remaining family deceased. Offical records show her to be the niece of a local who died due to heart failure five months ago and left her all his belongings. The validity of this is more than questionable, but there are no family members to check her claims.

Illyasviel currently attends the first-year in Kuoh Academy, however this is only because of her age. She is supposed to be a genius and her grades reflect that – she would be fit to attend the third-year and still be in the upper levels.

Her personality is mostly described as innocent, childlike and a little teasing. She is very outgoing and usually wears a bright smile. Especially in the company of Emiya Shirou she seems to brighten up immensly.

Just as her older brother, she is said to be very overprotective of her sibling. She actively tries to protect him from any harm and is discouraging any girl to come close to them when together. Evidence of that is a report of Sona Sitri, stating that she asked her directly on their first meeting about her motives towards her brother. Additionally, there are more than one photographs about her glaring at other girls who come too close to them as soon as Emiya isn't looking.

There are moments where her cheerful personality drops. Both the Fallen Angel Mitelt and Rias Gremory decribe her capable of being cunning, direct and non-chalant of killing. In these moments she acts very mature and is capable of doing anything.

Illyasviel von Einzbern is a magic user. She uses wires to create bird-like familiars, capable of shooting magic attacks dangerous to Fallen Angel. She has shown that she could control at least five of them at the same time without any visible problems.

Both the siblings are suspected students of a heretic mage, someone who lived separated from any society. That would not only explain the absence of any records or sightings in the past, it would also explain her unusual magecraft. It is suggested that Illyasviel is the heir of the mage and Emiya Shirou her possible bodyguard, explaining the close bound between them. Speculations suggest that after the death of her teacher, they both decided to leave their isolation behind to reconnect with the modern world.

That would also explain their non-existant knowledge about the three Biblical factions and any other magical aspect in this world.

Both Illyasviel and Emiya declined the offer to join a peerage, claiming not to want to loose their humanity. They were immune against any attempt of bribery in form of all the advantages of being devils.

To summarize: While her brother is more than capable to defend himself, Illyasviel is even more so. To top that off, her personality leads her to be easily annoyed, especially in regards of her brother. Any combat with her is deemed unwise, because she has the mindset and ability to do lasting damage. Additionally, it is strongly suggested to not pursue any romantic interests in her older brother.

 **…::...**

Serafall sat back in her chair from where she was reading the different reports. This developement was interesting. Not only did her precious little sister's rival gain two powerful new servants, she also met some intruiging people. Illyasviel von Einzbern and Emiya Shirou. They were worth keeping an eye on, showing immense strength as humans, just what could they accomplish as devils?

And then there was the fact that they only showed a small amount of discomfort at the relevation of devils, more focussed on the fact that they behaved rightly. No harming innocent people, huh? That just screamed of justice. Something, she as a magical girl couldn't disregard. Add to that that the siblings shared a bound she wished to have with Sona, she was intrigued. Uh, her mind went wild. Maybe they were even lovers, run away from home because of their forbidden relationship?

She had to keep watching them. And just maybe, there was a chance to recruit them. She never thought about getting a peerage before, but Illya-tan would look perfect in a magical girl outfit.. She needed a few moments to stop drooling.

 **…::...**

In the same world Serafall was in, but still on the other side of it, a tall young man with black hair was reading the same things. He had pointy ears and wore a black robe with detailed accessories. His ten black wings hovered behind him, twitching in anticipation.

"Ah, humans. Father, the potential in them is still great, I see. But I desire war, not peace and they are in the way. No doubt, when my plans come into motion, they will stand in my way.. And then I will crush them together with these devils. War will be mine!"

 **…::...**

Somewhere in a secret location, a few people stood around a table with reports. Especially the pages about the siblings caught their interest.

"Humans with that strength? They sure would be a good addition to our faction.." A tall girl with blonde hair mused.

"Unknown magic, a Sacred Gear similar to yours and a heroic personality to back it up. My, if I didn't know better, I would suspect them to be one of ours. Maybe we found descendants of a hero there?" A huge man, packed with muscles asked.

The last person in the round spoke up. "There is only one way to find out. I will send the two of you to scout them, and if you judge them worthy, offer them to join. No matter if they agree or not, they will help us in our quest then."

 **…:::...**

Only one person didn't bother with reading reports. No, this one person preferred a more direct approach. After all, they sent him a message through one of his subordinates who they so kindly spared, so didn't he at least owe them a personal reply? He smirked as he sat down on the couch in the big Japanese-style house the siblings were living in.

Coming here hadn't been easy, far from it. No, even for him, the leader of the Fallen Angel, the mightiest one of them all, the bounded fields around the house were troublesome. He had to use his combined knowledge of thousands of years of experience of magecraft to get past them unnoticed. Who the hell secured his home with more than three dozens traps and detectors? He doubted that anyone, except the maous or Michael, had an easy time assaulting them.

It intrigued him. Humans with such an extent of knowledge. Easily taking down some of his kind, but sparing the one who was betrayed by her comrades, after she tried to kill them. Forgiving, unyielding, protecting and caring. Only slaying the unjust and not wavering. He expected these traits in a knight of shining armour and not in a seventeen years old boy. And the girl with him was an even bigger mistery. Well, at least he was going to find some answers today. They should be back from school any time now and he couldn't wait to see their faces when they noticed his intrusion.

Of course he made sure to hide his presence and to conceal all traces of his energy. One only came that far with brute force and he didn't stay being the leader of the Fallen Angel by killing everyone not agreeing to him.

He heard the door to the house opening and the faint sound of voices. He concentrated and listened to their conservation.

"...you know, Onii-chan, for devils they are very nice. And very much not devil-like. Or at least not demon-like. And this peerage system.. It sounds awfully like chess. They are basically playing chess in these Rating Games. Weird." A cheerful and small voice exclaimed.

"That's true. They said it's to practice for the possibility of a war, but in a war.. Well the best comparison would be a Clock Tower magus in the Holy Grail war. Expecting honour and no tricks, just to die during the first confrontation. What you told me about the fourth war, it sounded similar." An older, deeper and masculine voice answered. That had to be Emiya Shirou, he thought.

"That's a nice comparison you pointed out there. Let's just hope it won't come to a war. I just want to enjoy life and not fight against all these crazy races.." The younger voice trailed of, Illyasviel von Einzbern he suspected. "But, for now, why don't we greet our guest in the living room, shall we? By the looks of it, he waited for at least ten minutes."

He stiffened. They were able to detect him? How? What did he miss? He was sure that he dodged every bounded field and surpressed his presence. Then he saw something in the corner of his eyes. There, hanging in the corner of the room, right under the ceiling, was.. a security camera. He resisted the urge to palm his face. He had been so concentrated that he had forgotten to check for mundane surveillance. Slightly embarassed, he looked directly into the camera and gave it an awkward wave. That could have gone better.

The door to the living room opened and a red-haired boy entered, followed by a small white-haired girl.

"Uhm, welcome home?"

 **...:::...**

When Illya had seen their unannounced visitor, she knew he was dangerous. Nobody who didn't surpass her on the field of magic could enter this house undetected and even those would be more than hard pressed to do so. Add to that, that he didn't give out any presence, she was most certain that the man was more than capable to fight her and Shirou evenly.

Thankfully, he was just sitting on the couch and relaxing from what she could tell. As soon as they entered their home, they saw him sitting there through the camera system she installed. It was nothing fancy, just the means to add to their protection. Well, and the chance to have an evidence if anything were to happened between her and Shirou of course.. Something she could watch again and again.. No, that's definitely not weird. She was a bit disappointed that she didn't have the chance to install a camera in the bathroom or his room. But she was getting off track.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Her face was adorned with a cheerful smile. Illya was on edge, of course, but she couldn't help but grin. Finally she got the chance to use one of the lines she normally saw in animes only. Seriously, if she didn't know better, she would have thought they were in some anime world, fighting against the evil and letting loose cool one liners. Now the only thing missing was the romance.

The man in front of them stood up. He had black hair tinged with blonde on his forehead. He stood tall, taller than Shirou, and had a slim figure, complimented by a long black coat. His purple eyes calmly regarded the two siblings as he introduced himself.

"My name is Azazel, leader of the Fallen Angel." His words were accompanied with a flap of his wings. Illya counted 12 raven black wings behind him, swaying lightly and producing a light breeze in the room that moved his coat around his form. If it weren't for the fact that he was currently standing in front of them in their home, she would have been more than impressed by this casual display of coolness.

"Azazel. I heard about you. Why are you here?" Shirou asked from where he was standing next to her. He was just as tense and aware as she was, but showed it far more openly. His hands were at his sides, ready to grasp invisible sword hilts and he took a step forward, standing in front of her, protecting her from a possible attack. It was rather sweet she had to admit.

"Ah, I don't mean any harm. I just came here to speak to you, that's all. I mean after all that I heard about you two, can you really condemn me for that?" He smiled at them, his stance never tensing up and keeping his relaxed appearance. He folded the wings at his back and Illya saw them disappear. She wasn't quite sure how he did that. She had noticed before that Fallen Angel and Devil alike could use them through clothing. Maybe they were more like a species dependant product of magic and not actually something of their physical form? That required further reasearch. If they were a product of magic she could and would replicate them.

"That depends on what you heard. I can't imagine you are too happy to see us after what we did to your kin." Shirou frowned. Illya had to agree to that. They might have been acting on their own, but still, they had been his subordinates.

"Ah, don't worry about it. You actually saved me the trouble of dealing with them. I don't really like it when they don't do as I tell them, especially if it produces animosity between the factions. So please, relax! I am just here to get to talk to you."

The siblings both deflated a bit at his words, but kept their guard up nontheless. Shirou turned back to look at Illya and she gave him a small nodd. The message was clear. 'Trust him for now.'

"Then sit please." Shirou said to him and started to move in the direction of the kitchen. "I will prepare some tea."

"Thank you." Azazel simply stated and sat back down. Illya sighed and sat down across from him, keeping her distance and the possibility to be in the kitchen in a few seconds. Better safe than sorry.

"Hm, Azazel-san, I didn't think you would show up personally." She remarked and regarded him calmly. "After all, we just send you a message and didn't really expect any reply. Or at least we didn't expect that you were happy about what we did."

He chuckled. "How can I not? Instead of the devils killing some rogue members of my kind, they had a run-in with some unaffiliated humans. That served to lessen the friction between the two races and because the devils are so interested in searching information about you, they don't think about demanding retribution or the like. So in fact, you not only spared me the trouble of dealing with them, but you also outright dissolved any possibilities of a war."

"That's good to hear. I am happy that we didn't cause you any trouble. And I am even more happy to have lessend the possibility of needless bloodshed, Azazel-san" Shirou said with a kind voice. During Azazel's explanation, he had returned with a tea set and was filling everyone's cup. "May I ask how Mitelt-san is doing? Or was she one of the people you 'had to deal with'?" His tone took on an edge as he said the last words.

Illya looked at him with worry. She knew that he disliked the idea of Azazel killing her, but she hoped that he wouldn't attack the _leader of the Fallen Angel._ She was sure that the person in front of them could end them if chose to do so. Not without a fight and a considerable amount of property damage of course, but still. Thankfully that worry was lessend by Azazel's next words.

"No, and again I have to thank you for that. When I asked her why you spared her, she admitted she didn't know. But when she told me about the fact that she didn't have any ideas that Raynare was acting out of line, and that she thought she was just following my orders, it dawned on me. You noticed that as well didn't you?"

Shirou was silent for a few seconds. "...yes. She only attacked me when she got the order to do so and hesitated to kill me when I appeared to be unarmed. Furthermore, it was clear that her companions betrayed her from what I could puzzle together from their words. She didn't show any battlefield experience and I think she was quite young, for a Fallen Angel that is. So I judged that you would know more about it, and were capable to decide if she was just acting."

Azazel nodded carefully at his words. Then he smiled brightly. "Very good, I'm impressed! You are not only capable of holding your own in a fight, but also able to judge people and to decide what the best course of action would be! Hah, if you were a Fallen Angel, I would have promoted you already." He grinned at them.

"But you aren't, so I will have to think about something else to repay you. That's what I am here for offically, you know." Illya's eyes glinted at the prospect. A payment from a mystical race of powerful creatures? Now he was talking. Who knew what she could do with that?

"And how do you plan to repay us?" She asked with haste. She couldn't let Shirou speak up, she knew that the idiot would just decline any sort of payment and say 'It's what anyone would have done..'. She stomped her feet on his as he was opening his mouth to protest and glared at him. The small homuncolous saw him looking at her in shock, but she disregarded it and shook her head. He looked more than unhappy about it, but kept silent. She relaxed and lowered her hand which had started to rise to her hair, to bind him is necessary.

Azazel looked at their exchange with open amusement, but didn't comment on it. "Well, actually Mitelt wanted to express her gratitude. She offered to forsake her affiliation with the Fallen Angel faction and to serve you, Shirou-san, as a repayment for sparing her life. And I would allow it of course."

Shirou and Illya recoiled in obvious surprise. "We can't accept that." Her brother said. "As much as I feel honored that she would do so, we can't rob her of her friends and family. So I have to refuse."

"I have to agree with Onii-chan. We can't have a Fallen Angel around the house, it would be way too troublesome." Illya nodded at his answer, but out of another reason. Mitelt wanting to serve Shirou? It set of all her protective alarms. She remembered the look Mitelt had observed Shirou with when she had healed her wounds. It had been full of surpise and.. admiration. It all clicked together. She wanted to steal her Onii-chan! And the worst of it, she had a similar body to hers, no way in hell she would allow that. She had to come up with a something the small Fallen Angel couldn't decline and that would keep her away for a lot of time.

"But, I am sure we could make use of her in some other way. Why don't why use her as a means to gather information, Onii-chan? Then she wouldn't have to leave and we would be kept up to speed about the ongoings in the underworld. It would be perfect, wouldn't it?" She pressed her brother and adopted a cute look. If there was a way to sway him, it was acting cute so that he couldn't think about anything, but agreeing.

"...Fine." Shirou admitted after regarding her for a few seconds. "Would you ask her if that's okay for her, Azazel-san? I can't understand why she would feel indebted to me, but if it helps her, I can't just disregard her feelings on the matter." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"That sounds more than reasonable. I have to say, I didn't expect that, but if that's what you want.. I will make sure that she keeps you up to date with information." Azazel admitted smiling. "Now that we cleared that, I will take my leave. There is someone else I want to meet." He glanced at the watch which was hanging on a wall of the room.

However, Illya decided to speak up at that moment. In her eyes there was a dangerous glint and her mouth shifted in a mischievous smirk. She saw Shirou shifting uncomfortably at her expression, she knew that he had seen in before and normally it didn't mean anything good for the person it was directed at. Even Azazel seemed to be taken aback at the sight and gulped audibly.

"Not so fast. That only settled the situation with Mitelt-san. Don't you think you still owe us something for not causing a war? And I think I have something in mind, you might just be able to supply.."


	5. 04 Heroes?

**A/N: ...Wow. When I started writing this story, I never expected that many favourites, or that much feedback at all. So I am thanking you all for your support, keep it up!**

 **I realize that this chapter is rather late, but I would call it fashionably late. If you want to have any free time, heed my warning and don't study mathematics. On that note, the next chapters will be published in the same time span, but they will all be around 10k words, just like this one.**

 **To this chapter: Nothing out of the usual I would say. I really have some problems writing fighting scenes and love to hear your feedback on it. The next chapter will start the Kokabiel Arc.. to some degree at least. After that, I will try to continue with AU.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything.. I am a university student after all.**

… **:::...**

"Onii-chan, do you remember the promise you made..?" It was a week after Shirou's and Illya's confrontation with Azazel, the leader of the Fallen Angel, and autumn break was coming rapidly. Tomorrow was the last school day before the two weeks long holiday and Illya had a plan. But that plan wasn't going anywhere because of her stupid, well-built, absolutely handsome and totally annoying older adoptive brother.

"Uh, what promise are you talking about Illya? I am pretty sure I remembered to buy you the newest season of your favourite anime and I got you ice cream. Not to speak of all the shopping trips you dragged me along with you.." Shirou trailed off after seeing the look on her face. The look, it was heart-breaking. Sad to the verge of tears and totally furious, all at the same time, combined with a cute pout. Illya saw the shock on his face and tried her best not to smirk. After all she practiced it for exactly this moment.

"Onii-chan..." She growled. "I am giving you one more try. Just what did you promise me before we went to beat up the Fallen Angel..?" If looks could kill, hers would seriously harm Shirou. It wouldn't kill of course, where was the fun in that. Even though he was unbearable oblivious and thick, she loved him. No.. serious harm sounded good now..

Shirou tilted his head in deep concentration, remembering that day. Suddenly it hit him. "...You don't mean.."

Illya nodded wildly. "Exactly. And you never kept it. I have been waiting too long for you to plan something or ask me out, so I took it into my own hands!" She stated proudly with a hint of bitterness.

"But.. Why does it have to be a DATE?!" He almost shouted at her. His face had lit up to a healthy red, mirroring the colour of the small homuncolous' eyes.

"OH? Are you saying that you don't want to spend a day with me, doing all kinds of fun things, making me happy?! Would you rather have me sitting around during the holidays doing nothing while you work out attracting strange girls? Do I mean that little to you? 'Just because she is small, she doesn't need that much love', or what?"

Shirou backed up until his back hit the wall. All the while, Illya had taken small steps forward, poking him in his chest every few words with a lot of force. He didn't know how she accomplished that, seeing as she actually couldn't quite reach so high and how she managed to tower above him. Scary.

"W-what are you saying? I would never think that! You are the most important person to me, you know that! If it makes you happy, let's go on a date! Yes, a date sounds like a super idea, don't you think so Illya-sama?" Shirou did the only thing he could think of – he reassured her and followed her demands. The prefix '-sama' was more of a reflex out of fear. He winced as he said it and hoped she wouldn't notice it.

His words worked. Suddenly, his perception shifted from crawling away from a monstrous Illya to looking down at his little sister smiling sweetly. Her eyes glowed with anticipation and he sweat-dropped at the sudden attitude change.

"Onii-chan! Asking me out on a date so suddenly, how could you?" She teased, flashing him a smug smile and playing shy. "But as it happens, there is this wonderful hot springs resort I always wanted to go to. Why don't we go there? I am sure they have a room for us if you tell them your name. Go, call them!" With these word, Shirou got uttered towards the telephon. He sighed and decided to call the place she wanted to go to. The next time he would have to pay more attention...

… **:::...**

A few days later, the siblings arrived at the hot springs resort, which was located in a lovely old village. It was very quiet, the whole village maybe numbered around 300 inhabitants and most of them were farmers or old people. Shirou would have doubted his sister's decision if not for the countless original Japanese-style houses. Combined with the beautiful landscape which was scattered with the odd forests here and there and a lot of fields and small hills, it left him speechless at the beauty of the location. She must have known that he was happy about having a vacation in a small city.

What he didn't expect, was the shopping centre in a huge town one hour away. As soon as they had arrived, Illya had dragged him there with the words 'I need a need bathing suit and you are coming with me.'. Now he was at the receiving end of a dozen odd looks from different women, while he was waiting in front of her changing cabine.

The curtain opened and Illya was standing in front of him in a cute lavender-coloured one-piece swimsuit. She did a twirl, flashing him a cute grin and winking at him all the while. He blushed. He couldn't help it, she just looked too adorable. Combining that with her pose, it was unresistable cute.

"Heh, so what do you think Onii-chan? Does it look good?"

"C-cute.. It's way too cute. I don't think you will be able to bath in that without people trying to steal you away." Shirou admitted and now it was Illya's turn to blush. He looked at her, confused. Why did she turn red, after all he just said the truth? He was interrupted when Illya murmed "Idiot Onii-chan.." and looked at her, slightly confused.

"A-anyway, I decided I will take this one!" She exclaimed and Shirou looked at her surprised. Normally, her shopping trips were long and tedious, searching through countless shops, attempting to find the perfect piece of clothing. He expected the same today. However, he didn't say his thoughts out loud, only a fool looked a gift horse in the mouth.

"Great! I am happy that you found something you like that fast!"

"...It's not about what I like. You should like it as well, after all we will go there together.." Shirou barely heard Illya's quite muttering from inside the changing room, where she was putting her normal attire back on. He guessed she was right, but why couldn't she choose something _less_ cute, now everyone was going to stare at her and he would have to look out for any perverts.. If he had the willpower to look away from her that is. Ah, this trip just became indefinetely harder.

The curtain opened again and revealed a fully clothed Illya. "Let's go then! I am sure you are just as eager to bath as I am."

Shirou nodded. "You're right. You know, Illya, we wouldn't have to buy a swimsuit for you if you just accepted to use the separated pools.. Only the mixed-ones needed one."

"You can't expect me to finally go on a vacation with you and then bath separated! That would be horrible, defying the whole purpose." She pouted at the red-head and he sighed.

"Maybe you are right. Let's just go back and enjoy our time together. It's a 'date' after all.." Shirou sighed. She had insisted on this trip being a date and no matter how often he rejected the idea, she wouldn't budge down. She even went as far as threatening him to lock him into the bathroom until he said it. And boy, that were three boring hours.

 **…:::...**

After enjoying the hot springs for a few hours, Shirou and Illya were back in their room, preparing to go to sleep. Shirou was very happy with the day. He spent a considerable amount relaxing, allowing his well-trained muscles some time to relax, and the hot springs left him with a feeling of bliss. Furthermore, the restaurant they visited was extremly good and he couldn't wait to cook the food he just ate and to add his own ingredients. He already had a lot of ideas how to improve it.

Illya seemed to be happy as well, he thought. Not only did she go shopping with him, she also spent a lot of time playing with him and calling it a date ever so often. He noticed she started to call their day like that whenever some girl came close to them.. Maybe she just wanted to spend some time with him undisturbed. But he had to admit, it had been rather hard to be distracted by other girls, after all, Illya looked way too cute in the swimsuit. Cute as in little sister of course. Not cute like 'that girl is really cute'. Absolutely not.

He was laying on his bed in the small hotel room, hearing his sister showering in the en-suite bathroom and wondered how she managed to book this for the price he was paying. The room was very large with a couch, a TV, two big beds and a built-in kitchen for basic cooking. It looked luxurious but he still didn't pay more than he would for a cheap hotel room. But then, he was too afraid to ask, somehow knwoing he wasn't going to like the answer.

Illya opened the bathroom door and his thoughts grinded to a stop. Just when did she buy _that_? He was sure she didn't do it with him, he would never allow her buy something like that. No. She was wearing very short shorts, revealing almost all the length of her legs and a pink nightshirt that was barely covering anything. He stared at her.

"Really, it's rude to stare like that, Onii-chan!" Illya giggled, faking embarassment and hiding a smirk behind her hand.

"Sorry!" The red-head quickly looked the other way. "What are you wearing? That's not even close to being appropriate!"

"Oh my, it's just my nightwear. Don't you like it?" She teased him and he could tell from the tone in her voice that she enjoyed his reaction.

"That's not it!" He exclaimed quickly. Maybe a bit too quickly. "I am just surprised to see you wearing something so... indecent."

She frowned at his choice of words. "That's not indecent! It's not like we are strangers sharing a room. We are on a date and I thought this would fit the criterias."

"..." All Shirou could think of as an answer was an incredulous look. That changed when Illya didn't go over to her bed after turning of the light, as he expected, but instead lifted the blanket of his and slipped in besides him. "W-what are you doing Illya?"

"Hm? Oh, nothing. It's just a bit cold over there, all alone in the bed, Onii-chan.. Would you mind if I sleep here for the night?" Illya asked him with an innocent expression. At least he thought it was innocent, in the dark he could barely make out her face. Or her indecent nightwear, for which he was quite thankful.

"...I guess not." He yielded. To be fair, he didn't dislike it whenever Illya sneaked in his bed, she was warm and it remembered him of better days. Yes, he felt safe and happy whenever she was with him, even though she came close to killing him a few times with her strong hugs.

"Thank you, Onii-chan!" The small homuncolous exclaimed with joy. A second later, two tiny arms enveloped him and yanked him towards her with a strength belying their look. Now he was lying with his head in Illya's nearly non-existant chest. He tried to shift or change positions, but her grip was unrelenting. So he did the only thing he could – he stopped struggling and fell asleep. The last thing he saw was Illya's happy expression.

 **…:::...**

Unknown to the siblings, their display of 'sibling bonding time' didn't go unnoticed. Outside of their window, two figures watched the whole thing. One was a tall man, his body full of muscles and his hair black like the night. Next to him was a smaller figure, a small woman with blonde hair and an aura of elegance.

"That's definitely not normal. They are definitely not only siblings, but lovers. I can't help but come to this conclusion." The tall man was shocked. His horrified expression betrayed his feelings, even though his body was perfectly still.

"That's disgusting. It is more than improper for two siblings to love each other that way. Especially when the girl is six years younger than the older brother, making it even more illegal than it already is." The blonde exclaimed.

The man nodded and she continued to speak. "We need to save her from the lecherous fangs of her brother, otherwise we can't call ourselves Heros. Tomorrow we shall strike!"

That earned her a thoughtful look of the taller man. "You know that we only were supposed to survey them and not engage in combat? I am sure Ophis would be.. disappointed if we didn't follow our task."

"Ophis couldn't care less about us. All she wants to do is to go back in the dimension gap and fight Great Red. So she can live in silence.. As long as we capture the girl she will be happy. After all, only she knowns how to use magecraft. From all we could see, the boy just works out physically and trained with his Sacred Gear, nothing else. And he even has the same Sacred Gear as me, so I don't think he would be terrible useful. Add to that, that we can gain her favour by freeing her of her brother's influence.."

"Sure, you had me after Ophis doesn't care. The last decent fight was way too long ago. And they might just pose a challenge I would enjoy." He grinned wildly at the thought. He was sure that those two who killed three Fallen Angel on their own, wouldn't die as patheticly as all the other humans. No, he would enjoy this fight, after all, fighting is why he joined the Khaos Brigade in the first place.

… **:::...**

"It sure is nice outside today." Shirou remarked. He and Illya were enjoying their last few hours before taking the train back home. It was sunny, but not too hot, so they decided to go for a walk through the landscape. Currently they were walking across a field, and Illya had linked arms with her older brother. It gave a rather comical picture, his arms were at the height of her head after all.

"That's true.. I wish we could stay longer." The small girl sighed. All in all, she was more than happy about that holiday. Shirou definitely stared at her in her swimsuit and she got to sleep next to him. Full success. The only thing that didn't work was the 'accidentally walking into the bathroom while he is showering' strategy she had seen so often. He not only locked the bathroom, but also secured it with a few swords, so the door wouldn't open. Who the hell does that? She would have torn the wall down, but labelling it as an accident would be rather difficult then.

At least, she got him away from all these full-breasted girls for a while. What he didn't see he couldn't like – but that was a disadvantage for her as well. He obviously couldn't see _her_ breasts... Well, she pressed his face into them while sleeping, maybe his subconciousness would be attracted to that now. It was in these moments, Illya noticed, that she spent more time thinking about how to attract Shirou than about magecraft. A feat more than rare for magus. Not that she regretted it, after all the earlier one was a real challenge, while the later one was more of an exercise.

On the other side of the field, she spotted two persons who were slowly walking towards them. She checked for signs of non-humans in their presence, but couldn't find one. Dismissing them from her thoughts, she focussed on enjoying the moment with her brother.

After a minute, she could discern their features. Shirou did so as well, it seemed, because both of them stopped walking at the same time. There, in front of them, were two well-known figures... A huge man with brown hair, a body formed of muscles and familiar face.

"Berserker..?" Illya muttered in shock. The man looked exactly like her former servant, except the modern clothing and missing stone-axe. She looked up to Shirou and could see him staring at the other person.

"Saber...?" She looked at the woman as well and was surprised. In her shock of seeing the form of her beloved servant, she overlooked the woman. She was rather small, but her poisture hid that fact very well. Having green eyes which were glaring at Shirou, and long blonde hair, she reminded her a great deal of the legendary King of Knights. Differently to Saber however, she didn't have it in a battle bun, instead having it braided on her back. She wasn't wearing any weapons as well and wore a rather unique outfit, consisting of modern clothing with light armour.

"Rejoice little girl, for we are your saviours! You won't have to suffer from your brother anymore after we are finished with him! His days of sexual abuse are over!" The Saber-double shouted across the field. They too stopped walking at a distance one could hear their voices. Illya immediately guessed that she wasn't the real Saber, the real King Arthur. For one, Saber had a lot more charisma, hell, Saber would have enough charisma to stop her fawning about Shirou and get him to seduce her all the while. She mourned for herself in the parallel universes where Saber would be his servant for longer than a day, or even stayed after the Holy Grail war.

And secondly, that woman definitely had a french accent. Not english at all. Maybe she was a descendant of Joan d'arc? She had read the Einzbern notes about the Fourth Holy Grail war and in that one, Gilles de Ray confused King Arthur with Joan. He was mad, but not blind. That only left the other person. A descendant of Heracles? Would be the most plausible explanation.

She remembered Mitelt's visit.

… **:::...**

 **Flashback**

"Tell me.. What exactly are _you doing there, Mitelt?_ " Illya crossed her arms and tapped her foot on the ground in anger. Right in front of her was her brother, sitting on the couch. One moment he was happily drinking his tea and as soon as she turned around, the little pest entered their home and literally jumped into his lap. She definitely had to undo the changes she did to the bounded fields. No way she was giving this brother-stealer free access to their home. Maybe she should add some more lethal ones for her..

"Hm? What are you talking about, Illya _-chan_?" Mitelt grinned at the other small girl. Illya gritted her teeth so hard that she was surprised they didn't break.

"And Onii-chan, do you plan to keep her there all day?" Her voice was full of barely surpressed fury and he visibly flinched at her tone. She knew she would regret that later, but now she was too angry and that idiot didn't do anything to help this situation. He didn't even look uncomfortable!

"Oh, are you jealous?" The Fallen Angel teased with a smirk.

"If you want to live.. Move now or I will give you the same treatment as your dead superiors.." The homuncolous growled at the other girl. She opened her circuits and was preparing to launch a dozen of hair-swords at her. Of course, Shirou was sitting under/behind her, but Mitelt's body would block all the lethal attacks and she could nurse him later on.

She relaxed however, as Shirou's hero instincts kicked in. With a fluid motion, he removed the surprised Fallen Angel from his lap and dumped her next to him. With a barely audible whisper, he told her to stay there if she wanted to live. That earned a pout from the Fallen Angel, a helpless shrug from Shirou and a grin from Illya.

"So, why are you here Mitelt-san?" Shirou asked her politely, but he kept sending glances to Illya to see if she was about to kill their guest.

"I am here because I wanted to see you, Shirou-sama!" Mitelt exclaimed happily. After a glare from Illya she decided to add something. "And of course because you wanted to be informed about the things happening in the Fallen Angel territory."

"What can you tell us then?"

"I think I will start with the basic things first. As you know, there are three biblical factions. The Angel, Fallen Angel and Devil. The Fallen Angel are the only ones who don't revive humans to add to their ranks, because they don't have a numbers problem. Currently, they hold the highest numbers which is due to the fact that we not only have more children, but also due to the fact that a few Angel fall every year. That's why the Angel introduced the 'Spades' system which basically works like the peerage system of the Devil.

"The Fallen Angel are separated in two factions. One side wants to live peacefully and in concert with the other races. led by Azazel-sama. The opposing faction is led by Kokabiel and consists mostly out of his loyal followers. Their goal is a continuation of the war, because they believe they would win. Thankfully, they are in the minority and Azazel-sama keeps them under control, so the frail peace isn't endangered.

"However, there are other people who want to start a war or follow their own goals. The most important group would be the Khaos Brigarde, consisting of individuals of fearsome power. They are led by Ophis, a dragon in human form and capable of overpowering almost everyone with ease. Her goals are unclear, but they are collecting a big number of powerful people. We guess that they will make their move in a few years time, or when they collect a extremly powerful member.

"A category of the Khaos Brigarde is the Hero Faction. In this faction, the most powerful humans come together. Normally, they are descendants of legendary heroes and carry powerful Sacred Gears and weapons. Azazel-sama sent me here to warn you about them. He thinks that they might try to recruit you and wanted to warn you. After all, they are members of a terrorist group."

Mitelt finished her explanation and watched the two siblings. Both had a thoughtful look on their face.

"They are a terrorist group, hm? Can you tell us anything else about them? If you need our help to stop them, count us in!" Shirou spoke up first and Illya nodded in agreement.

"I don't know a lot about them, because of their lack of activity. But I will tell Azazel-sama about your offer, I am sure he will be pleased." Mitelt smiled at the red-and-white-head.

"Thank you Mitelt _-chan_ , we appreciate you taking your time to come here." Illya faked a smile at the Fallen Angel.

"No problem. It is always a pleasure to come here." She shot a meaningful look in Shirou's direction. "And how could it not be, after all Shirou offered me to have dinner with you. I heard that his food is most delicious."

"Onii-chaannn..."

After that, she had to endure Mitelt and her flirting for three more hours. She was so happy that that annyoing little brat was gone, that she totally forgot about what she told them.

 **Flashback end**

… **:::...**

But that wasn't important now.

"What do you mean with sexual abuse?" Shirou shouted across the field to the two hero descendants.

"We had you under surveillance under Ophis' order and witnessed your behaviour! Forcing your little sister to wear such a shameless nightwear and making her sleep in the bed with you! And then you had her pressing your head in her chest. How could you, you monster. We will free her from your grasp!"

Shirou blinked in confusion. Did they really watch them? Then they should have noticed that it wasn't him initiating all these things. True, he could have rejected Illya's advances, but that would just hurt her and he would never do that.

Next to him, Illya let out a bitter laugh. "If only.."

All heads turned towards her. The tall man laughed loudly. "Ha! There you have it Jeanne, she didn't need saving. But we can't not fight them now!"

"Shut up. How could I know that she was such a bro-con?" She hissed angrily at the man.

"Illya? What do you mean?" Shirou's face was frozen in shock.

"Huh? I didn't say that out loud.. Did I?" Illya stuttered horrified. Her already pale skin became even paler, matching her white hair. "Nothing Onii-chan, don't worry about it. I was just talking to myself.. Shouldn't we worry about those two weirdos trying to fight us?" She tried to change the focus away from herself.

"That's true.." Shirou gave her one last look and turned back to the 'weirdos'. "Who are you and why do you want to fight?"

"Well, kid, I am Heracles, the direct descendant of the legendary hero! And I am always happy about a good fight." The man identified himself.

Jeanne rolled her eyes. "I am Jeanne d'arc, descendant of Joan d'arc. We are members of the Hero Faction and you were scouted.. Let's call it that. What do you say? Join us and work together with Heros or die a pitiful death at our hands? You may be strong, but you are nothing against us. Only with our help you can reach your full potential!"

"We refuse. I don't have any intentions to join a terrorist group. I will stop you here and now!" Shirou exclaimed and shifted into his fighting stance.

"I will have to refuse as well. You see, you talked bad about Onii-chan.. And if you are really a descendant of Heracles, he would be more than ashamed to have the same name as you. You are nothing, compared to him. Your existence is a disgrace." Illya taunted the taller warrior.

"What do you know little girl?" Heracles growled. "I will show you the might of Heracles, may it be the last thing you see!"

… **:::...**

Heraces loved fighting. One could say, he lived for it. And he discovered that at a very young age.

His training began at the age of three, barely able to walk, his father started to form his body. His family always did it like this after all. The descendant of the legendary hero Heracles, that's a title that isn't earned by birth right only. It's a title given to the strongest individual in the family's current generation.

All male children who showed potential undergo a hellish training, many dying in the process. But Heracles didn't have any problems. In contrast to the other weaklings, he embraced the training, especially the life combat session. Yes, while fighting he felt _alive_. Nothing else gave him this kick, this joy. With your life on the line against a dangerous opponent, one misstep leading to your death, that's how he liked it.

To him things like honor or a fair fight didn't matter. He enjoyed fighting with everything he had, not only his body but also with his surroundings. Only fools disregarded a way to a possible victory. Fools like the ones Jeanne was before they met.

He joined the Hero Faction because they promised him a lot of fighting. Until now, it was a bit disappointing to be fair. No real fights, only countless hours of training without killing anyone. That's where he met Jeanne, and against all expectations they became fast friends. The first time he met her, she disgusted him. She had a brilliant swordswomanship, capable of defeating several master at the same time, but.. She saw herself as a knight.

A holy knight, descendant of the ever so impressive Joan d'Arc. Contrary to his family's tradition, she gained her title by merely existing. Long story short, after some beatings she learned her lesson and was fighting without holding back. Now she was a worthy rival and a good friend, and they normally did all their missions together. Only her sense of justice was a bit annoying..

That's why he expected those children he was looking at to fall immediately. The boy might have a similar Sacred Gear to Jeanne's, but he didn't have her years of experience. And the girl, well.. He did a lot of training with mages and fought against a fair share of devils, resulting in him having an abnormal high Magic resistance, capable of blocking spells from High-Class devils. And no human could dream of reaching their niveau, especially not one so young like that white-haired girl.

But something didn't feel right. Nothing they witnessed so far lived up to the reports. Had they been lucky? Was the Fallen Angel so disturbed by the sight of her comrades falling that she exaggerated? That all was shooting through his head while he was charging at the boy. `The boy had positioned himself in front of his sister, but was holding both his arms low. He didn't even summon a weapon. Not that it mattered. After all, Heracles' Sacred Gear always surprised his opponents. He frowned. That wasn't what he wanted, he had hoped for a challenge.. Little did he know, that this challenge might prove to be too much.

 **…:::...**

In a fight two versus two, there are two ways to fight. The first one would be to split their opponents and defeat them in a one versus one combat, a strategy that works extremly well if one is able to overpower their opponent to help their partner to finish of theirs. It's a tactic every new team employs, perfect for partners who are new to fighting together or partners who aren't used to their new partner. Or maybe they just fill the same role and would only hinder themselves.

However, if you and your partner are used to each other, a different tactic is preferred. To team up two versus one against opponent and defeat them swiftly while the other can't help. Often times two melee partner get in their own way, helping the opponent more than confusing it. But if you are truly in sync, one can defeat almost everyone with minimal effort.

That's why Jeanne and Heracles used the later tactic. They weren't perfect for each other by far. Jeanne and her perfect sword style and Heracles with his explosive fists and improvised style. But they managed to work together just fine, a surprise in itself. So when they teamed up to take out the biggest threat in their opinion first, the two youths surprised them.

While Shirou and Illya had known each other for only a few months, they went through a lot in this short time. A war, heroic spirits, a new world and Fallen Angel, all of that strenghtened their bound and their understading for each other.

Illya loved her older brother more than anything. She would gladly give her life to save him, his protecion was her utmost concern.

Shirou loved Illya as a sister and in this world, she was all that was left to him. So her protection was the most important thing for him.

And they both knew they were going to get in a lot of fights with powerful beings. Archer didn't have E-Rank luck for nothing after all. So they trained and trained and trained. Trained how to fight together, trained how to depend on the other and trained, how to fit Illya's presence in Shirou's fighting style. The result was a dance, a beautiful dance of death and sacrifice.

Shirou saw Heracles rushing at him with Jeanne hot on his heels. He shifted in his fighting stance and opened his circuits. The trigger of the gun in his head was pulled and released and he spoke his two word aria to allow his od to travel through his body.

"Trace on."

Behind him, he could feel Illya doing the same. He never quite understood how she was able to do so without actually saying a short aria or something like that, but then, he was only a third-rate magus. He iddly wondered if Rin ever used one, but he couldn't recall it. Maybe it was something only high level magus were able to do? They must be able to hypnotize themselves to the same effect using only their minds.

His thoughts were pushed away by the massive amount of magical energy he could detect behind him now. He was still impressed at the amount of prana Illya could generate, an amount no human could hope to match. On the other hand, she had been designed to be the Lesser Grail and her prana storage capability is somewhere between four to six servants. It was in these moments that he remebered not to mess with her, ever. Not because she would kill him, which she might be able to if she surprised him, but because she didn't have any problems with using magecraft to get what she wanted, especially not with him.

Shirou shook his head free from the thoughts and concentrated on his two opponents who were nearly upon him by now. Heracles raised his fists in front of his chest which was at the same level as Shirou's head. A golden glow engulfed the fists, coming from two bronze wristbands. Behind him, Jeanne readied her sword for a follow-up attack after Heracles' punch.

In the red-head's hands two swords flickered to live, the two swords he knew the best out of all of his weapons. He raised them in front of him, blocking Heracles fist, reinforcing his body at the same time. It was a good thing he did, because not only was the force behind the punch great enough to make him skid backwards for a bit, it also caused a small explosion.

Shirou gritted his teeth. He didn't expect this kind of Sacred Gear, one which seemed to make cause explosions on impact. It was dangerous and totally unexpected, but he already had an idea how to deal with that. However, he had a far more pressing concern at the moment.

Because of the unexpected explosion, his guard dropped for a few milliseconds, but that was all that Jeanne needed to spot an opening and exploit it. But just as she was about to stab into his shoulder, she was forced to jump backwards to avoid a barrage of magic blast from two bird-like familiars. Shirou saw Jeanne looking behind him in annoyance and knew that Illya sported a self-statisfied smirk at the moment. He would have sighed and shaken his head at his sister's antics but he didn't have the time to do so.

The four combatants looked at each other for a few seconds, Shirou standing several feet in front of Illya and their two opponents facing Shirou with a lot less space between them. Then Heracles face broke into a large smile, and the fight restarted.

He dodged Heracles' blows with inhuman speed, forcing his body to heights he hasn't needed to reach since the Holy Grail war. To any normal human he wasn't more than a blur, but his two opponents weren't just any humans, especially not normal ones. If they were surprised by his speed they didn't show it, instead they even increased the pressure on him.

In the next few minutes all that kept him alive, were his speed, his style, his experience and Illya. Illya battered aside the blonde swordswoman every time she tried to land a decisive hit on her brother and directed her familiars to fly in circles over the heads of her opponents. That caused their magical bullets to be unpredictable and more often than not they caught Jeanne off guard and allowed Shirou to land glancing blows.

But then Shirou made a mistake. He had just been re-tracing his beloved twin-swords after they had shattered by a especially powerful hit from Heracles. He turned just in time to block Jeanne's attack from another Holy Sword she had created with the help of her Sacred Gear and was therefore open to an attack from Heracles.

Normally, he would have avoided such an obvious opening, but with Illya supporting him, he was a hundred percent sure that the tall man coudn't take advantage of this. Any other opponent would have been forced to retreat by the incoming barrage of magic attacks from the bird familiars, but Heracles wasn't.

Instead, he ran straight into it.

…:::...

Illya was horrified. The battle had been going very well so far, but then this idiot of a Berserker wannabe ran straight into the magic attacks she shot at him. And was completely unfazed! How could she forget about Heracles amazing Magic Resistance? If this guy really was his descendant, then of course he would have a smiliar skill as well! Stupid! She had been so focussed on the fact that he resembled her former servant that much, that she actually forgot about this important information.

And now all she could do was watch, as Heracles fist connected to Shirou's side and a small explosion sent the teenager flying. At the same time, that damn big-busted woman managed to land a clean hit on his chest.

Illya was furious. Furious at the two people in front of her who dared to hurt her Onii-chan. Even more furious at herself because he got hurt because of _her_ mistake. Shirou had trusted her with this and she betrayed his trust! How could she call herself his sister if he couldn't rely on her? But that was a discussion for later, now they had to deal with these two bastards.

"Onii-chan! Are you okay?" Illya asked, not managing to keep her worry from creeping into her voice. "That big guy has an A-rank Magic Resistance, I'm sorry about that."

Inbetween her sentences she muttered a quick healing spell, taking care of the cut he got from Jeanne and together with Avalon, she managed to repair his broken rib in a few seconds.

"Maybe you should step it up a bit, Onii-chan. They are in a different league compard to the Fallen Angel." Shirou nodded in response to her words.

Heracles and Jeanne were waiting for Shirou to get up. Well, it was more like Heracles waited and Jeanne was busy slaying bird familiars. His booming laugh echoed through the battlefield.

"It has been ages since someone gave me that many problems, kid! I really wish you would join us, I would love to spar with you! You may not be a match for me right now, but with a bit of experience, I could help you reach new heights you could never dream of!" Heracles grinned at the red-head and battered a bird familiar away that flew to close to his face. It was an action that reminded Illya of a human trying to shy away an annoying fly.

"...I have already seen what I could be capable of. I have no need to hurt people, just to have fun." Illya shivered a bit at the look Shirou directed at his two opponents. She wasn't quite sure _why_ she shivered, it was an odd combination of dread, anticipation and.. arousal? That can't be right, she loved to see Shirou getting all serious and badass, but was she degrading that far? Well, to be fair she was a 19 years old girl without ever having any action.. She shook her head violently. What was she thinking in the middle of the battlefield?!

Thankfully, none of the others had noticed her behaviour. In the background of the two males, Jeanne was busy striking at her bird familiars and Illya would have laughed at the sight of a small woman trying to catch very agile birds with abnormally large swords, if she hadn't been so damn effective in doing so. From the dozen bird familiars she had summoned in the beginning, only three were left. She sighed and created a few more, much to the annoyance of the older woman, who started to curse very unholy.

… **:::...**

Shirou was panting from exhaustion. The battle hadn't been going on for a very long time, but defending against two skilled opponents at the same time took its toll. He gritted his teeth and concentrated on sending more prana to Avalon to heal his slightly bruised side where Heracles Sacred Gear empowered fist had hit him.

He knew Illya was right with her analysis. With his current level, he couldn't win against them and to make matters worse, Illya didn't have any wires with her to help her magecraft. She was forced into a support role for now. When they got back home, he would have to think about giving her another possibility to fight.

He concentrated on his opponent. Heracles was dangerous, even without his Scred Gear. Shirou's body would most likely break if he got hit again, no matter how much he reinforced it. It didn't matter if your body is just as hard as concrete if your opponent has no diffiultied to punch through said concrete. So he decided to make his body as hard as steel.

 **"My body is made of blades"**

The first line of his aria to invoke his reality marble. Once upon a time that aria had been different. Instead of _'My body is made of blades'_ he would have chanted ' _I am the bone of my sword'_ , but then things changed. Or more importantly, HE changed. Shirou no longer longed to be a hero of justice. Of course, if the possibility arised, he would gladly take it, but not without considering his family first. He no longer charged into battle headfirst without thinking.

No, now he lived to protect. To protect the ones close to him, to protect the few before the many. While Archer sacrificed his friends to save a few dozen people, Shirou had decided to protect. Protect, not safe. Of course, he was still uncurably distorted, he would give his life without a second thought, if it could give his family a chance to live. But he was different.

And because he was different, he couldn't use Archer's aria to invoke the Reality Marble. No, that aria described every aspect of him, characterized him into the finest detail and was a representation for his soul. So in reaction to the change in his ideals, he had changed his aria. Of course it was still far from perfect, but in the past months in this new world, he spent a lot of time on mediating and researching his Reality Marble. And that research not only showed him a lot about himself, but also supplied him with the first four lines of his new aria.

He felt his body harden and his nerves turning to steel. His prana spiked up and while he didn't have more than before, now it was faster, more efficent and sharper. His reality marble started to spread inside of him, changing him more and more into a sword. In Shirou's hands, a sword started to from, or should he say that he pulled it out of his Reality Marble? The more he manifested his Reality Marble, the less prana he needed for his tracing and it helped im greatly.

In his hands was one of the strongest Holy Swords. Durandal, the peerless sword. It was the holy sword favored by the paladin leader of the Twelve Peers, Roland. It was granted to King Charlemagne of the Frankish Empire by an angel, and awarded to Roland. This breathtakingly beautiful sword possesed three miracles that allowed it to maintain its sharpness even after the user ran out of magical energy. Though Roland, on the verge of death in battle, had wished to destroy it to keep it from falling into enemy hands, it proved to be completely indestructible.

And now Shirou was wielding it, giving it a practice swing and faced his two shocked opponents with new-found confidence.

… **:::...**

"..You are the wielder of Durandal?" Jeanne gasped, trying to sort out her thoughts. The last time they checked, the Holy Sword was in the possession of the church. For this boy to possess it, he must either be an agent of the church which she considered more than unlikely because of his friendship with Fallen Angel and Devil alike, or he must have stolen it. But even considering the impossibility of the theft of one of the most powerful swords in existance, that didn't explain how he could wield it.

Magical swords can't just be picked up and wielded, everyone knew that. One had to be a natural wielder to control the sword and those weren't found once in a million people. Adding this impropability to the fact that even then no one had complete control over the sword, and the fact that this boy was wielding it without _any_ problems or difficulties, it left her with a bad feeling. A very bad feeling.

The red-head could be one of the successes of the Holy Sword project which experimented on children to make them compatible with Holy Swords, but that ended years ago. No, as impossible as it was, this boy had to be the perfect wiedler of Durandal. And on top of that, he didn't even need it to defend against Heracles and herself. Until now, he solely relied on the two black and white blades he somehow produced with his Sacred Gear.

And then there was this feeling he started to emit at the moment he spoke his strange words. His body is made of blades? She could have bet that it was a magic spell, but everyone knew that those didn't need words, only a strong imagination. It seemed that as soon as she found out one thing about the boy, a dozen new questions came to mind.

But it didn't matter now. She would think about that later, when they succesfully captured or killed the boy and his little sister. Her pride didn't allow her to back up against two children of all things, furthermore they caught them unprepared this time. She didn't want to think about a confrontation when they had time to prepare.

She knew that Heracles was with her, even though because of another reason. That big idiot loved fighting more than anything else. Hell, if the gods of his ancestor's saga were still around, he would have gladly challenged them, just to experience a good fight. She was happy that he was on her side, even though it didn't have anything to do with personal loyality. As soon as someone could promise him more fights than he was getting in the Hero Faction, he would gladly join them instead.

Jeanne sighed inwardly at his twisted sense of fun. She just hoped that he was careful, she hated to pull him out of trouble.

 **…:::...**

Illya smiled at the scene. Now that her Onii-chan got serious they could go back to their holiday soon.

But then she had the best idea she ever had. At least that was what she thought. After all, she missed her servant badly and this guy over there was the closest thing to Berserker in this world that existed.. Maybe, just maybe she could force him to join her? Of course he would need a lot of work, but she wasn't about training him in the way of a Berserker. His fighting style definitely fitted the class.. She made up her mind.

"Onii-chan, please don't kill Heracles, I think we could have a lot of fun with him." She giggled sardonically. Her brother would normally have frowned at her words and started a lecture about people not being toys, but he was a sword now, a sword she wielded. And a sword didn't argue.

She knew that Shirou was completely distorted and no matter how much she wished he wasn't, it also came with a lot of advantages. One being that he would do everything for her and that he wasn't listening to anyone, but her. Truly, if she wasn't madly in love with him, he would have made and excellent tool. But unfortunately, she was madly in love with him and so she was also filled with a lot of concern.

Illya knew that her brother would win this fight, she just hoped that he would do so without getting hurt too much. But then again, that was what she was here for, wasn't it? She wouldn't disappoint him again!

She felt Shirou pumping his prana into Durandal and it responded in kind.

"Durandal, cut through swords." His voice echoed through the clearing and Durandal glowed for a second before returning to its usual state.

Illya chuckled at the shocked faces of their opponents. After all, for them it looked like he just wasted one of Durandal's miracles for something totally pointless. They didn't know that it was only a replica and that he could just trace a new one if he used all three of them. She had to admit that it was a really good miracle to create, it definitely dealt with the annyoing Sacred Gear of the big-busted blonde..

True to the miracle, Jeanne's sword got cleanly cut in two by Shirou's next attack. Only her fast reflexes saved her from spilling her insides on the grass as she jumped backwards to bring some distance between her and the swordsman.

Illya enjoyed watching the scowl on her face as the 'descendant of the legendary hero' realized the hopelessness of the situation. And she had to surpress a giggle when she saw Heracles fist slamming into Shirou, only to make him stagger a bit, but nothing else. His body was truly made out of blades, it was surprising that Heracles hadn't been cut.

Of course Shirou didn't not feel that hit, and he will for sure have some bruises later on, but for now it didn't matter.

"Trace on. Continunous Fire." The red-head's voice echoed through the battlefield and a moment later, dozens of swords formed behind him. Durandal in his right hand, he lifted it up and performed an downward slash in Jeanne's direction. A moment later, she had to defend herself against incoming swords. They may have been mundane swords and no Noble Phantasms, but even so, the onslaught of swords proved to much for her. They were similar to a machine gun, only with more precision and way deadlier.

The first one that got through her guard was a glancing hit, drawing blood on her cheek. The next one followed immediately after, while she was still in shock. It pierced her right shoulder, causing her to drop her sword. The next few imbedded themselves into her limbs, pinning her to the ground. The blonde watched in horror, as a large bronze sword flew directly towards her head.

With nowhere to dodge, Jeanne was forced to watch as it came closer and closer, until she could feel the air pressure on her face. She closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable. ...and waited.. but nothing came. Anxious, she opened her eyes to see the fading light of sword pieces.

"You are lucky, you know?" Illya exclaimed, walking to where she was lying. "Normally he would just kill you, but for him to not do so.. Say, you have never killed anyone, did you? You didn't show the conviction, nor released enough killing intent.." She interupted her musing when she saw Jeanne starting to shiver in front of her.

"My god.. You really are a Holy Maiden.. At least in the mindset. I am sure you wouldn't hesitate to kill in the name of your ideals, right? Onii-chan really found someone similar.." The small girl trailed off. Then her eyes flashed dangerously and started to glow. "I am afraid I can't let you get close to him. We wouldn't want him liking another girl now, would we? **Contact your superior and escape.** Otherwise I will make sure there is nothing left on you for Onii-chan to get distracted!"  
Jeanne was shaking with fear now. She didn't know why, but this little girl, the cute little girl she wanted to save before the fight, was more dangerous than anything she ever encountered. And she was working with Ophis, a dragon in human form. One of the most powerful beings in existence. At least Ophis only wanted to kill the Big Red to have the Dimensional Gap to herself..

 **…:::...**

Heracles and Shirou's battle came to a conclusion. The descendant of Heracles beaten by a mere human who was unknown until three months ago. A shame that couldn't be washed away, at least not until this boy was either a hero himself, or Heracles could best him in battle. For now, however, he was at his mercy.

He recalled how it came to that. After taking Jeanne out, the boy had focussed all his intention on Heracles and dismissed Durandal. And he didn't send it back to another dimension or somtheing like that, no, Durandal of all things, _shattered_ in his hands and he didn't even give it a second glance.

Instead, the teen just created another weapon, a huge sword made out of stone. It looked ridiculous on him, like a small child with a surfboard, but he lifted it without any apparent trouble. Heracles swore that it looked somehow familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. Was the sword calling out to him?

He dismissed that thoughts when the boy started to swing it into his direction and he immediately recognized that technique – nine lives. A technique no one had been able to replicate. A Sacred Gear, a Holy Sword, telekenesis and a lost technic. That boy was something else. In a video game he wouldn't have hesitated to call him a cheater. But this was the real life, so.. Ah what the hell.

"You cheater! How did you do all these things? That's just not fair! All I wanted was a good battle and you just trampeled on my fun!" Heracles knew he sounded like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum but he didn't care. At least that stopped the attack of the boy before it could eviscerate him.

In response, the boy blinked a few times, totally at loss about the situation. Seeing that his opponent wasn't attacking anymore, but instead sulking on the ground after being heavily wounded by two strikes from Nine Lives, he dismissed the stone sword and rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish smile.

"That's not exactly cheating, you know. I have trained long and hard to get to this level.. But I can see your point." Shirou admitted, confused by the sudden shift in atmosphere. A few seconds ago, everyone was tense and prepared to kill and now.. Heracles couldn't continue fighting and Illya was walking towards him with a big smile on her face.

"Illya? What happened to Jeanne?" His voice betrayed his worry, Seeing her annoyed expression, he quickly added a few words. "I made sure not to kill her, but I can't see her anywhere.. And she really shouldn't have been able to run away."

"Don't worry Onii-chan! Someone showed up and took her with him. I was so surprised that I couldn't stop them! I'm sorry.." Illya looked down in shame. It wasn't like she was lying, some guy showed up from nowhere and just dragged her into a place shining with all the colours of a rainbow. She merely didn't tell him that she ordered Jeanne to do so.

"That can't be helped, don't worry Illya! As long as you are alright!" He flashed her a radiant smile. "By the way, what do you want to do with him?" Shirou asked, pointing at the fallen Heracles.

Illya shrugged lazily. "Well.. You know the materials I asked Azazel for? Turns out they didn't exist in this world, he contated me a few days later to inform me about it. So instead I asked him to build this for me!" Pulling a pair of shades out of her pocket, she smiled proudly.

"You asked him for... sunglasses?!" Illya regretted not bringing her camera. The mixed look of surprise and disbelief was truly amusing.

She giggled. "Of course that aren't normal sunglasses, Onii-chan! Did you ever hear about Mystic Eyes of Binding?" She continued after Shirou shook his head. "They pretty much force someone to accept a geas, they are pretty powerful. With these glasses, my normal hypnotic abilities will be just as effective!"

"Uhm, Illya.. Just what exactly are you planning?"

"Say Onii-chan, wouldn't it be a biiiig help if we had someone who could protect me in battle? And someone who is so close to Berserker.. I would know how to fight with him without much training! What a great idea, right?" She smiled at him.

Shirou felt a shiver running along his spine. He didn't know why, but in the last few months, Illya had gotten pushier and more.. demanding than ever before. Almost as if she was running out of time and wanted to experience as much as possible before dying. But that couldn't be possible, could it? She would tell him about something grave as that, right? He was probably just otherthinking things. Maybe that was her normal personality that came back after years of manipulation.

If Shirou had known just how close he was to the truth, he might have pressed her to tell him. But in this case, his blind trust was his weakness. He relied on her telling him everything, relied on the fact that there weren't any secrets between them. After all, that was how he handled it.

Next to him on the ground, the siblings conversation finally registered in Heracles head.

"Uhm, do I get a say in that?" He asked hopefully. But in response he only got a glare from Illya and an apolegetic smile from Shirou.

'Well, maybe that isn't so bad.' He mused. 'Those kids seem to get in a lot of fights, at least it won't get boring..'


	6. 05 Excaliburs!

**A/N: Why hello there. Another three weeks are over and I find myself with a bit of free time. This chapter is basically introducing Heracles and his interactions with Shirou and Illya. There will definetely a lot of scenes with him, because he is fun to write, but the next chapter will focus more on the development between Shirou and Illya which came kind of short in this one. Well, this chapter also starts the next arc, however I am not going to write down every detail that happened.. If you want to know more, read the Light Novel or watch the Anime. Instead I will focus on what our maini characters are doing at the same time..**

 **I thank you all for your amazing feedback, 555 favourites and over 700 follows are way more than I ever expected. Keep up the good reviews!**

 **…:::...**

"Onii-chan, could you please project Berserker's sword?" Illya turned to her brother, seeing him focussing on tracing a huge stone sword. After they had returned home, Heracles had been assigned to a room in their small mansion and they all went to sleep.

Of course only after Illya forced a couple of geass on the huge man.  
Firstly, he wasn't allowed to hurt or kill them, except for situations like training sessions.  
Secondly, he wasn't allowed to contact his former comrades, not that he showed much intention to do so, except maybe sending Jeanne a message that he was still alive.  
Thirdly, he was to protect Illya if the need arises, obeying her every command in battle.  
Fourthly, he was forced to not harm innocents, only people Illya and Shirou designated as enemies.

All in all, it wasn't that bad of a deal. Illya would have pushed for more, but Shirou had put a stop to that. As much as he disliked the idea of basically forcing someone into slavery, at least he was there to supervise it and to make sure that Heracles was as comfortable as possible. He had attacked them and had to take responsibility and he grudgindly agreed that being a servant of sorts would be better than sending the man to a prison where he would likely stay for his remaining life.

It also helped that Heracles was quite happy about staying with them for some reason. He stated that they were going to be in a lot of trouble in future and he couldn't wait to fight all their opponents.. Well, Shirou couldn't complain about the help. The man was more than capable in combat and he and Jeanne only lost because of Shirou's adaptiveness and the element of surprise.

And it definitely didn't hurt that Shirou finally had someone to spar on more or less even ground with, something he couldn't do before. Right now, the siblings were thinking about how to rise Heracles combat effectivness and did the first thing that came to their minds... They gave him the weapon Berserker used.

Unsurprisingly, Heracles was ecstatic at the prospect of being a step closer to his ancestor and to train under someone who actually knew his ancestor. It didn't even cross his mind that that should be virtually impossible.

"Sure Illya. Trace on." Shirou opened his circuits and not even a second later, the huge sword hovered in front of him, ready for Heracles to grab.

"So that's what he used.." Heracles muttered in awe. "Now that I see it up close without you trying to gut me, I am somewhat disappointed. I can feel the pull to it and see its effectivness, but.. didn't he use something more refined?"

Shirou nodded and looked at the sword to get a better look at its history. "Indeed, in his legend Heracles used a bronze sword, as well as a shield. This however is something that Berserker used, his mind too confused with madness. It is far more appropriate for his monstrous strength. What's surprising is the fact, that it has the same memories as his original weapon should have, maybe they were copied over.. Nevertheless, with your strength you should be able to master the sword. And if you prove to be reliable, I will teach you 'Nine Lives'."

"You would do that, kid? I am so happy that I met you and that you two kicked my arse.. That's more than I ever hoped to accomplish in my life." He bowed his head in gratitude. That didn't help that he was still a head higher than Shirou and it looked more as if he was looking down on the red-head.

"See, Onii-chan? I told you it was a brilliant idea to 'recruit' him! He will keep me safe and you can focus on the fight.. and it's nice to have someone working for you~ I kind of miss Sella and Leysritt." The smallest of the three mused, happily skipping over to Shirou, who shivered as he remembered just why she missed them.

Illya had a very unhealthy obsession with maids. A very very unhealthy obsession. Not for her, mind you, but for every maid she ever laid her eyes on. Shirou still had nightmares about one paricular experience where they went to a maid café after Illya requested to do so, only for him spending the next hour trying to get Illya to stop jumping every maid she saw. She had been drooling at that time and had tried to capture one to force her to work at their home.. Only Shirou's timely intervention had saved the unfortunate maid, but not without a trauma against small white-haired girls.

Shirou caught her searching for Maid outfits in Heracles size last night and briefly wondered if he should warn the man. But then again, it would surely be a sight to see.. That had to be Illya's influence on him speaking. He didn't particularly care if she tried to stuff her 'servant', as she called Heracles now, in such an outfit, at least that stopped her from doing the same with him.

"What do you say, kid? Ready for round two?" The 'servant' turned to Shirou after giving the sword a few practice swings. "I am always up for a good battle and I feel like you didn't even use half your tricks."

Shirou smiled slightly and nodded in agreement. "Fine with me. It's nice to have someone I can train with and test my swords against."

"Men and their swords.." Besides him, Illya sighed with a small smile. "Try not to destroy the garden, I really dislike fixing the ground. It's a shame that you can't do it." She muttered and glared at Shirou. "Whatever, I am going to finish some projects. See ya later, Onii-chan!"

"Wait a second, Illya! Can I ask you to help me with something later?" Shirou smiled at her and she blushed a bit before nodding.

"Sure, just come and get me." She replied in a somewhat sultry voice.

Heracles laughed at the two. He barely knew them for a day and he was already getting more entertainment than ever before. Not only were these kids extremly strong fighters, they made for a good comedy program. Altough he didn't know how it came that they were so capable and lived alone at such a young age, frankly, he didn't care.

Enjoying the moments between the siblings was just too hilarious. The small girl was giving her best to seduce her brother and flirted with him whenever the chance arrived, but the teen was so oblivious, that he thougt more than once that the girl had a fever instead of blushing. Heracles judged it unlikely that he would ever notice her feelings short of a confession, but even then he was likely to see it as sisterly love.

No, if the girl wanted to suceed, she would most likely have to die, so that the teen would realize his feelings or have sex with her. And by the looks of it, Illya knew that as well. Well, he hoped that she wasn't going to die anytime soon, it would be too bad to loose the entertainment.

If he didn't know better he would have thought that the boy was some kind of harem character. From what he gathered through these anime things Illya had put into his room, the red-head was good material for it. Not noticing affection – check. Absurdly powerful – check. Good looking – check. Hero complex – check. The only reason there weren't any other females going after him, was the rather violent answer of Illya to all people who were somewhat female and wanted to get close to her brother.

It wouldn't surprise Heracles if there were at least two or three secret or not so secret admirers somewhere.. He remebered that he was supposed to battle said boy and saw said teen looking at him oddly, because he had been spacing out. Later would be time to think about all the hilarious things that could happen, now he needed to concentrate.

"Alright! Lets get this started!" The mountain of a man laughed at the red-headed teen.

 **…:::...**

"How are your wounds doing, Bers-.. Heracles?" Illya corrected herself and looked over the many bruises on Heracles body. "Since you have such a high Magic Resistance, my healing spells need some time to undo the damages. To be honest, it would be much easier to just get Asia to help you out.."

"That's a good idea, Illya." Shirou remarked from next to her. His wounds had already healed, not that he sustained that many. "Maybe we should make it a habit to train with her in attendance or at least, get her to come over after spars. If she has the time for that of course. She seemed to be rather busy with her devil activities lately. How are you feeling Heracles? I am sorry for injuring you." 

Heracles laughed. "Ha, that's nothing to apologize about kid! I enjoyed it, if we always train like that, I am more than happy to stay here." That caused Shirou to grin in relief. He had been worried that he overdid it a bit, but he got carried away during the battle.. Facing an opponent in a non-lethal spar was fun to him, it reminded him of sparring with Fuji-nee, only with less bruises. The tiger and her cursed shinai had been rather violent.

"Let's start dinner then. We can go see Asia tomorrow." Illya nodded at Shirou's words and they moved over to the kitchen table. It was a comical sight, a mountain of a man sitting on a comparably tiny chair next so a small girl that made the chair look huge. Surpressing a laugh, Shirou served everyone.

"Itadakimas!"

Not knowing what to expect, Heracles was eyeing the food carefully. He was used to high quality food and really hoped that the kid had enough experience to statisfy him. With food. Well, it wouldn't hurt to try, it smelled good enough. What he didn't notice was the interested look from Shirou, waiting to see his reaction and the fact that Illya pulled a camera out of nowhere, eager to make a photo of his face. Until now, everyone had reacted very surprised and happy and all of their facial expressions had been hilarious..

Picking up the first item on his plate, Heracles carefully balanced the food on his chopsticks, still a bit unsure how to use them properly. He opened his mouth, put the food in.. and after a second of not moving, had to physically refrain himself from just grabbing the plate and devouring it in one big bite.

Next to him, Illya giggled at his reaction and Shirou sighed at his appetite. It was like going back to cooking for Fuji-nee or Saber again.. He definetely had to buy more ingredients.

 **…:::...**

"So what do you want my help with, Onii-chan?" Illya asked from where she was sitting in his workshop. "Or did you just want to be alone with me~?"

"Uhm.. I wanted to ask you if you had any ideas about my recent project. You know that I tried to recreate Archer's bow, right?" After waiting for Illya to nod, Shirou continued. "Well, the thing is, I can't trace it here, see? Trace on."

In his hands, a black bow started to form. After a few seconds and a lot of prana later, it stabilized and Shirou showed it to Illya.

"Hm, I see.." The small magus began but was interupted when the bow shattered. "That's interesting. Since the bow was made out of materials from the future of our world, it seems that these materials will never be invented here. Even though that Gaia is next to non-existant here, it still rejects something that isn't supposed to exist, ever. Your swords are different in the regard that the legends may differ, but are basically the same. The bow on the other hand.. From the future and made with materials that shouldn't exist.. It gets instantly rejected. That's surprising, it proves that Gaia's influence still exists."

"That's nice and all, but that doesn't really help my problem, you know? With the current technology I am not capable of firing Broken Phantasms or even normal sword arrows. Meaning that my long range fighting is severly weakened."

"Hm.. Well. Aren't there any Noble Phantasms that are bows? We are living in the Age of Gods, so there should be some left, or?" The small homunculous mused, adopting a thoughtful expression. "If there are people like Heracles and Jeanne d'Arc, maybe we can find some bowman?"

"Gilgamesh never fired bows from his Gate of Babylon because it would have been pointless and Archer might have seen countless weapons, but never a bow strong enough. There was a reason he used such a futuristic one. But we can certainly try to find someone here! If only there was a sword that could act as a bow.." Shirou trailed of, a dreamy look on his face. A sword that was also a bow.. That would be perfect! Then he could store it perfectly, reinforce it to the maximum and project it with ease.

Laughing at Shirou's imagination, Illya shook her head. "As much as I hate to say that, Onii-chan.. We should ask that little brat Mitelt for information. If she asked Azazel about it, I'm sure he could deliver."

"Sure. By the way Illya, what do you think about Heracles so far? I know you really miss Berserker, but isn't that going a bit far?"

"Onii-chan, we talked about that! It's better than giving him to others. And he is nice and kind of strong. With enough practice he will get close to him eventually. He even seems to enjoy to stay with us, even though he should stop laughing at my attempts.. What do you think? I know you were a bit opposed."

"I was in the beginning, but now.. He is happy to be here, enojying it even more than his time in the Hero Faction from what he told me, especially because of the spars. The technique I am going to teach him is just the icing on the cake. I think he can be trusted for now, but please.. don't torment him too much."

Illya glared at him for a second before smiling sweetly. "Sure, whatever you say Onii-chan. Let's go to bed, shall we? School is starting again and we need to introduce the big battlenut to the others tomorrow.. Since he is known as a criminal, we might have to 'convince' them."

 **…:::...**

"So you are going to introduce me to your friends, Illya-chan?" Heracles asked the small girl curiously.

"Yup~ Oh call me Master by the way. Illya-chan makes me sound so young. I am older than Onii-chan, not that anyone believes that." She ordered in a happy voice. She was looking forward to the devils' reactions, it's not everyday that someone of the enemy side joins them. Well.. Mitelt kind of joined them, didn't she? What was it with their fights that people wanted to join them? Now that she thought about it, even in the Holy Grail war Shirou's enemies joined him eventually. Rin, Sakura, herself.. Okay, she knew that her brother was ridiciously handsome and people tended to swarm around him, but that was really stretching it.

Anyways, she would have to think about it. Did he have some Mystic Eyes that made poeple fall in love with them? She read that the Fourth Grail War's Lancer _Diarmuid_ Ua Duibhne had a Love Spot with exactly that function, maybe Shirou was just as unlucky. Archer had E-ranked luck after all.

"Wait a second. YOU, master, are older? What the fuck. Boy is that true?" The giant roared in disbelief. His finger pointed at Illya in total shock who pouted in turn. Chuckling at the scene, Shirou nodded.

"I couldn't really believe it when I first heard it as well. But she is my adopted father's biological child and was born a few years before me." Heracles looked at Illya in wonder. Then at Shirou. And back to Illya.

"So.." He drawled. "You are basically saying that Jeanne got mad about something totally legal but slightly unmoral?"

"Huh? What are you talking about, big guy?" The red-head looked at him in wonder.

A quick reinforced elbow jab from Illya in Heracles knee, stopped his answer before he even opened his mouth. The small girl sent a glare at the chuckling man. "Don't worry about it Onii-chan, I am sure he is just rambling senslessly. Berserkers tend to do that." 

"Sure.. Anyways, we are here. That's the Occult Research Club, we asked the others to come here. Well then, let's get started!"

 **…:::...**

Inside the ORC building, Rias and Sona, together with their respective servants, were waiting for the arrival of their guests. It wasn't often that the siblings asked something of them and all were rather curious about the new member of the small family. Only the last sentence was a bit worrying.. 'You might know about him.' What could that mean?

"So, what do you think Sona?" Rias turned to Sona who was sitting next to her. "We haven't heard from them in two weeks and now they request a meeting? I heard they got into a fight in the holidays."

Sona shrugged. "All that I could gather is that they had a run in with the Hero Faction of the Khaos Brigade. Maybe they want protection? It's quite noteworthy that they were able to escape. From what I heard, they are currently able to easily overpower most of our members. As much as I hate to admit it, even we would be hard pressed to beat them at our current level."

"Really? Even Ise? I mean he beat Riser at the wedding.." The crimson-haired girl blushed at the memory. Her pawn single-handedly defeated a High-Class devil, only so that he.. Well, he claimed that he did it because he wanted to have her virginity. But she was sure, he only wanted it because he cared about her as person and not the heir of the Gremory clan. He did say so much that night in their training camp.

"Riser was arrogant and overconfident. He solely relied on his regeneration and never bothered to learn how to fight. I mean that guy fell as soon as Issei-kun used the Holy objects and negated his regenerative ability. The Hero Faction on the other hand.. They are humans and not feared because of their raw power. Even a low-class devil could posses more. No, they are extra-ordinairely skilled and posses artifacts or Sacred Gears of immensible worth." The student council president argued.

Rias sighed in defeat. She knew that her friend was right, but that didn't mean she had to like it. Claiming that her cute servants could be beaten that easily, that was just unfair. They might need some training, but still.. Ah whatever. She would show her, as soon as she had a full peerage, Rias planned to defeat everyone in the young devils gathering.

The door opened and immediately all the attention focussed on the siblings who entered. Illya waved at them happily. "Rias-san, Sona-san! How are you doing~?"

"Thank you for meeting us here." Her brother bowed politely in thanks. 'At least he knows some manners.', Rias thought in exasperation. She herself wasn't such a stiffler to the rules like Sona, but it would be nice to get some respect..

Smiling nontheless, she answered. "It's always a pleasure having you. What can we do for you?"

"Hm, you see.. We had a small run in with Jeanne and Heracles from the Hero Faction. Nice guys, just a bit weird." Shirou sighed at his sister's words. That really wasn't how he would have phrased this sensible subject.

"And you want our protection because you think it could happen again?" Sona concluded. "We will be happy to help, as long as you could do some things for us."

Rias looked at the siblings and was surprised that Shirou looked confused and Illya was holding back her laugther. "If I may ask, what's so funny, Illya-chan?" That definitely shut her up, Rias thought happily. She always enjoyed jabbing at the younger girl, it was payback for all the times she didn't let her talk to Shirou.

"Well..." Illya drawled. "It's just funny that you thought we might need protection. I mean Onii-chan could easily beat all of you at once."

Next to her, her brother sighed at the younger girls antics. "Illya, that's more than rude. And it's not what we came here for." However, he was interupted by blonde with silver eyes.

"Are you saying that Kaichou is weak?! How dare you!" The angry person who was shouting at the siblings was Genshirou Saji, Sona's pawn who was worth four pawns. Next to him, Issei exclaimed the same thing, only with Rias as his concern. They both looked at each other in surprise before deciding that they could deal with that later. Now they had to defend the honour of their dream girls!

Behind them, their team mates shot them worried looks. They didn't know the extend of the siblings' power and weren't really eager to find out about it by watching their friends suffer. Only Akeno seemed to have her usual smile, even though it somehow looked more happier then before..

"I am sorry if it sounded like that. It wasn't our intention to insult your power. Illya is merely confident about my potential, that's all." Shirou quickly intervend and everyone cooled a bit down. Nobody noticed how Akeno's smile changed back to its somewhat normal state and Illya's to a small pout.

"Now, what we were saying.. We had a run-in with the Hero Faction. Jeanne d'Arc and Heracles engaged us in combat after a misunderstood situation." The tanned boy stated in a matter of fact tone. Most of the people in the room didn't know what to make if this statement, Sona and Rias however, visibly paled.

"You encountered two of their most powerful members and lived.. It seems that we greatly misjudged your potential." Rias nodded at Sona's words.

"Well, obviously." Illya's irritated voice silenced the whispers in the room. "While Jeanne escaped severly injured with some help, we were able to.. persuade Heracles to join our small makeshift family. Come on in, Heracles!"

"WHAT?!" The scream echoed through the school building and Shirou was glad about the fact that Illya set up a Bounded Field to stop any sounds from leaving. Behid him, Heracles had entered the room with a large grin on his face and mock-waved happily. The question of how he managed to get past the door that was around half the size of himself, didn't cross anyone's mind. Instead everyone was preparing for battle.

"Relax kids." The huge man chuckled. "I am not going to fight you unless my master here orders me to do so. Not that I would mind, I am always up for a good fight!"

"That's enough Heracles.." Shirou sighed, already knowing that this is going to be a lot more annoying than he initally thought.

 **…:::...**

A few hours later, a tired Shirou and Illya went home, Heracles following closely behind them. If Shirou had to be honest, he had to admit that everything went far better than he expected. They didn't give them more information than they needed, strengthened their position because they managed to defeat the two heroes and gained the approval of the two devils.

The last part had been the most challenging. Heracles was a well-known criminal who even before joining the Hero Faction got into a lot of fights. On his head was quite a bounty and more than one authority wanted to take him in for questioning. His relations with the Khaos Brigade made him an uncomparable souce for information.

Thankfully, Illya had predicted that and gave a logical explanation – or something similar. In short, she claimed that he couldn't tell them anything because they put him under a geas. Furthermore, he was only a foot soldier. Known to the high ranking members, but not privy in their plans. After all, they gained his loyality by giving him chances to fight. In contrast to people like Jeanne who were deeply involved in strategy session, he had spent most of his time working out.

Add to that the fact that he didn't know the location of the secret base due to them traveling through the dimension gap and not mundane means, his knowledge was next to useless. To others that is. Shirou and Illya had already asked for all the information they could get and discovered most of the Hero Faction's members. However, they kept that tibid of information to themselves for now, because of who the members were.. Descendants of Heroes indeed, if they didn't know better they would have thought another Grail War had started and the servants stayed.

That led to a whole other can of worms. Was there a Holy Grail in this world? Was it the same as in their old world, or just a powerful Holy Artifact? They decided to ask Azazel about it the next time they saw him. Especially Illya seemed eager to hear more, even though Shirou couldn't fathom why. The Holy Grail had only hurt people, causing so much pain. Why would she want it to exist?

Whatever. He just hoped Azazel was able to answer all their questions. They sure had a lot..

The last issue in the meeting had been the question of the siblings safety. Both Sona and Rias had offered them protection, but they declined it politely at the second time. None of them were experienced enough to defeat any member of the Hero Faction at the moment, alone that is, and they didn't want to have the whole ORC and Student Council living at their home.

After explaining the geas they put Heracles under and neglecting to mention his abnormally high Magic Resistance that would allow him to fight against it, the devils finally relented to their point. Even though Sona exclaimed that she would put Heracles under arrest as soon as she saw signs of disobedience.

 **…:::...**

Illya was standing naked in front of the mirror in her room and frowned. Not only didn't she even reach half of the height of it, but her body was worse for wear every day as well. She hated it. She hated, hated, hated, and totally loathed it. Why, just why did the Einzbern had to change her body that drastically. She was fine with it growing slowly, so that she would have still been alive at the time the war should have originally started.

But now.. In preparation for the war, they changed it. Replaced it with artifical magic circuits, something only possible with Homunculous and the Einzbern. Made it into a storage system so that she wouldn't die after absorbing just one servant. And condemned her to her death all the while.

Her body was failing. It was as simple as that. She had a year left in maximum and she couldn't think of a way to change that. If only she had enough prana.. The Holy Grail would have been her saving grace. If she had obtained it, she could have saved herself with the Dress of Heaven. Instead, it was gathering dust in her workshop and its only use was upgrading her familiars.

All of that was eating at her, and more often than not she found herself overly possessive of Shirou, basically forcing him to do things. She couldn't help it. She was dying, she couldn't afford to hold back. Of course she knew that her brother would have to get used to the idea of forming a relationship with her, but she didn't have the time for that. She would love to gain his heart slowly, but at this rate she would have to take it forcefully.

And she hated it. Overplayed it with a sadistic attitude, slowly loosing grip on her personality. Forcing herself back into her cheerful and careless mask.

But now, something changed. She gained something. She gained Berserker. Sure, he called himself Heracles, talked instead of roaring and ate more than Saber instead of feeding on prana. But he was unmistakenly similar to her protector. If she could regain him of all things, why shouldn't she be able to do heal herself? It made sense. This wasn't the world she knew, she had to remind herself of the fact.

Just take Shirou's projections. They were nearly flawless, lasting for weeks now. If he was able to accomplish things so close to the First True Magic, the Denial of Nothingness, she could achieve the Third. Or at least find enough prana to live. Her life made sense again. Maybe she could hold back with her possessiveness and let others interact with her brother. He needed other people in his life, not just her. Ber- eh, Heracles was a good start. They had formed a friendship, funny enough, based on fighting and eating.

And for others.. Well, they made a deal with Asia that she would come around from time to time to heal Bers- Heracles after their spars and the girl was clearly in love with Issei (how or why, she couldn't even begin to understand..) and therefore was a safe choice.

And maybe, just maybe she could tolerate that Fallen Angel brat.. As long as she stopped flirting with him. Add to the mix Koneko, because she kind of spent way too less time with her friend and she was sure that the little kitty would love to eat more of Shirou's food.

Illya spent the remainder of the evening organizing Shirou's social life, not once noticing that that may still be a little creepy. But even if she did, she wasn't likely to care.

… **:::...**

A few days later, half a dozen people people gathered at the Emiya's and Einzbern's table for dinner. True to their request, Asia had come by to heal Berse- Heracles together with Koneko who was invited by Illya to join them for the evening. Issei claimed that he came along to protect Asia and Koneko from the giant, but Illya wasn't to sure about that..

He most likely came along to see if anything improper happened – and then watch it as well. And he liked Lolis from what she heard. Disgusting pervert. If only Shirou could have the same preferences, it would make seducing him so much easier. She sighed in defeat, causing everyone to look at her.

"Is something the matter, Illya? You look so defeated. Is my food not to your liking?" Shirou asked the little girl in confusion. That caused the curious looks directed at her to turn into glares. No one dared to insult Shirou's food and hope to live. Mind you, not because of the chef himself, but because of his food's fanclub, especially a certain small white-haired girl who had cat ears when eating his food..

Illya knew that as well and was quick to rebute that statement. "Not at all, Onii-chan! You know I love your cooking, it's the best. I was just lost in my own thoughts, hehe.."

Issei visibly perked up at her words and instantly his face adopted a lecherous look, no doubt thinking about the possibilities Illya could have been thinking about.

"Pervert." Koneko muttered her catchphrase, causing Asia to smile in embarassment, Hercules to rise an eyebrow, Shirou to glare at him and Illya to frown. He might get close to her true thoughts and she couldn't allow some pervert to fantasize about her. Well, he was most likely thinking about her and Koneko if she had to guess, but the point was still valid.

Muttering a quick incanation under her breath, one of her hairs turned into a hammer and knocked the brown-haired uninvited pervert out. Asia was quick to jump to his rescue and immediately started to heal him. And patched up his nose which had started to bleed a second before the hammer hit. Everyone looked completely unfazed at this scene, having seen it far too often before.

"So Koneko-chan, how is school and the devil's business treating you?" Shirou turned towards the youngest girl and smiled. Illya squinted her eyes and looked at the girl.. Was she imaging it or was Koneko's ear twitching slightly? And were her cheeks looking a bit less pale? She smiled. It hadn't been too long that Koneko had told the siblings about her Nekomanta origin after it acted up every time she ate Shirou's food. Somehow, Asia and Issei haven't noticed that yet.

"Good. We lost a Rating Game against Riser Phoenix who was Rias' fiancé. She was against it and they decided to decide it with a Rating Game. After we lost, Issei stormed the wedding and beat Riser into a pulp, declaring her virginity for himself. It was amusing. School is normal. I miss Shirou-sempai's lunch." Stated Koneko in less monoton voice than usual.

Both the siblings sweat-dropped at her words. Only Koneko managed to sum these events up in those few words. And her choice of words was rather.. Pelicular. Calling it amusing and stating that she missed Shirou's food with the same breath was bound to raise questions about her priorities.

"Ah.. I'm glad. I would hate to see you unhappy and Rias married to someone she didn't like. Why did you loose in the first place though?"

"Riser Phenix. Member of the Phenix clan. Similar to the animal they share a name with, they are said to be immortal, instantly healing every damage done to them. Only killing them so often that they don't have any magic left or damaging their mind can defeat them, temporarily. It was our demise."

"Immortality, huh?" Illya mused with a thoughtful look on her face. "Can they transfer that power to someone else? Maybe healing them or so?"

Surprisingly, it was Asia who spoke up. "It's actually one of the only methods to restore the a devil's health. Next to my Sacred Gear, devils don't have any healing magic. Phenix Tears are very valuable and rare because of their ability to instantly heal any damage done to the body and refill its magical energy. Jubella only managed to defeat Akeno because she used a vial of them."

"They indeed sound very valubale.. Do they only work for devil? Where could I get a few of them?" The homunculous jumped at Asia with eagerness.

"I don't know.." The blonde replied, confused by the girl suddenly latching onto her.

"You can get them in the Underworld if you have enough money. Their effect seems to be the same for all races." Koneko supplied, having benn a devil for a longer time and actually living in the Underworld for a few years.

"That's too bad then. We currently don't have the funds to buy them, or Onii-chan?"

"I'm afraid not. But maybe we can help the devils with something and get them as a compensation. Especially if you are so eager to get your hands on them." Shirou let out a chuckle. It had been a while that Illya was so fascinated by something and he enjoyed seeing her all hyped up.

"That's fine and everything, but.. what's for dessert?" Came Heracles voice from next to them and all turned towards him, having completly forgotten his presence. "What? I'm hungry! Nothing beats a great meal after an exhausting fight!"

 **…:::...**

Heracles did his very best not to laugh atthe unfortunate teen in front of him. The whole situation was just too hilarious. He knew that the boy had a few admirers, if that cat girl was anything to go by, but this.. What did the guy do to attract all these different lolis?

Currently, Heracles was sitting on one of the couches in the living room, looking at Shirou who was sitting on the couch on the other side of the table and who was wearing a slightly strained smile. At both of his sides were two little girls, both attaching themselves to his arms and glaring daggers at each other from their positions. It didn't really help that one of them was a Fallen Angel older than 60 years and the other a girl around twenty. 

Heracles was sure that if Koneko would have been here as well, hell would break loose. It was too bad that she wasn't, it would have been a sight to see. The teen and his loli harem. Hilarious. Not being able to help it, he started laughing at the situation. Only to get glared at by two small girls and a look searching for help from the male.

"What can we help you with today, Mitelt-san?" Shirou asked the Fallen Angel, curious as why she appeared out of nowhere. "I know that we sent you a message an hour ago, but normally you aren't that fast to get here."

"Ah, Shirou-sama. When I got your message asking for my company how could I hesitate? I dropped everything and teleported here immediately. The reason I needed that hour at all was because your Bounded Field somehow identified me as an enemy and I had to contact you to turn it off." The small Fallen Angel exclaimed and Heracles could swear that he saw hearts in her eyes when she spoke his name.

"Ups. I must have made that mistake when I tweaked them to ignore Heracles here. I am so sorry." A not at all apolegetic sounding Illya replied, earning herself another deadly look from Mitelt.

"Anyways. Did you ask Azazel about the things we sent you the message about?" Shirou turned back to Mitelt after giving Illya one last doubtful look.

"Yes! It was about bows and the Holy Grail right?" She continued, seeing both of the siblings nod at her. "For the bows.. As much as I would love to present Shirou-sama useful information, I am afraid that there aren't any around. No bowman could compare with long-range magic and the few sturdy enough bows are all Sacred Gears.. And even those are more than rare. The only one Azazel-sama knew about was an Angel who hasn't left heaven yet.

"In regards of the Holy Graili however.. That's more complicated. It's not the Holy Grail one would think about it, the cup Jesus used in his last supper, because it never existed in that form to begin with. No, the closest thing to the Holy Grail is the Sephiroth Graal, a Sacred Gear. It's one of the twelve Longinus and unbelievable powerful. The Sephiroth Graal has the ability to make contact with the principle of life and giving insight in the workings of the sould and body.

"However, the last wielder died a few decades ago and the new hasn't been found yet. Therefore I can't give you any more information. I am so sorry, I am a disappointment to Shirou-sama." The girl started crying comically and wailed her arms wildly.

"That's quite alright, Mitelt-san. Don't worry, what you told us is way more than we hoped for." Shirou explained to the small blonde, patting her head in an attempt to calm her down. "It's not like we expected you to show up with both of these things at our doorstep."

Mitelt sniffed one last time. "..'kay. Oh, by the way Azazel-sama wanted to ask a favour of you."

"A favour? The leader of the Fallen Angelis asking for a favour from children? What is this world coming to.. How do you even know him or gained the loyality of this little brat there?! It's like you are on good terms with all the powerful races. Where did you hide the Angel? I am sure you knokw one as well!" Heracles roared, finally snapping. He had seen it all now. Children beating him and Jeanne. Them being on friendly terms with the devils in their school. A Fallen Angel clearly in love with a human. The leader of the Fallen Angel of all things asking for a favour. And no one seemed to notice the absurdity of it all.

"Oi! I am not a brat you meat-head!" Mitelt protested, but was ignored.

"Uhm, I admit that it sounds a little weird if you say it like that.. You see, we spared Mitelt-san here in a fight and Azazel came to see us to thank us. Then Illya kind of forced him to give her a few things and now he sends Mitelt-san to us on occasion to update us about ongoing things. It's not like we are friends with every powerful race.." Shirou tried to calm the huge man down. It seemed to do the trick, because he switched to mumbling under his breath and leaving the room instead of destroying things in rage.

Looking at the door Heracles just slammed shut, Illya sighed annoyed. "Right... Onii-chan, we really have to inform Berser- Heracles about the things around us.. I fear what will happen if he ever hears about our branches of magic.."

"True... So, Mitelt-san. You said Azazel wanted to have a favour? What can we help him with?"

"Do you remember you told him that you would gladly help to stop a war if the need ever arises? I fear that situation has come.. In the last few months, three Excaliburs have been stolen from the different churches around the globe. Azazel-sama analysied the steps of the thiefs and determined that they are going to come to this city. Why, we don't know. However, and that is the important part, the church sent two Executors to retrieve the Holy Swords or at least destroy them. Both of them are wielders of Excailburs and therefore dangerous to devils. Should any of the two devil heirs die, their siblings, the maou, will take revenge on whatever party killed them. That would start a war.

"So please make sure to keep an eye on the two of them, Sona Sitri and Rias Gremory. Be it the Executors or the original thieves, they are in danger, from the latter more than from the former. Azazel will do his best to help from behind the scenes, but this is devil territory and he can't just barge in and take matters into his own hands."

"We are happy to help and will do as you say, but.. Why do keep saying Excaliburs? As in more than one?" Shirou asked, more concerned about the sword than the favour itself. He wouldn't have hesitated to do something about it even without Azazel asking.

"Wait, you don't know? It's like common knowledge!" Mitelt shouted, being caught of guard. But all she saw were confused expressions, so she sighed and continued. "Seriously, sometimes it's like you guys lack the basics of the basics but still beat everyone you meet..

"The short version is that Excalibur was destroyed in the last war. It broke down into seven parts and from those, seven new Holy Swords were forged. Each of them has an unique ability, for example Excalibur Rapid greatly enhances the user's speed, enabling him to use even fast than well-trained knight pieces. Even broken, Excalibur is still one of the most powerful Holy artifacts and a great danger to any devil. That's why we think that they want to move against the devils in th first place. Thankfully, while still immensly powerful, normal humans as you won't die from just a single shallow cut."

"Exclaibur was.. broken? Now that's something I never thought I am going to hear." Shirou muttered, thinking about the sword in his Reality Marble. It was flawless, on of his mightiest weapons and a miracle in itself. Forged by the fae and enhanced by Arthur's legend, nothing he knew could destroy it, be it a mortal object or divinity itself. For this world's Excalibur to be broken.. Just what did they fight?

 **…:::...**

Rias was sitting in the Occult Research Club main room in their building and was organizing her thoughts. An hour ago, she received reports from the sentries around town that two Executors had entered the town and were on their way towards the school. They were going to arrive any minute now. Her peerage was in position around her, ready for a fight and able to block any escape routed the two could take.

She was at a loss about why Executors would come to her. She didn't have trouble with the church, never endangered any lives of the humans in this town and even protected them from Fallen Angels and other demons. Additionally, they should know that this territory belonged to two heiresses of the 72 pillars and little sisters of two Maous. That in itself proved to be enough to dissuade any attempts of killing her.

Well, she could only wait and see. Maybe they needed her help, as lunatic as that sounded. Or they were friends of Shirou and Illya, but then wouldn't they have met with them first? Questions over questions.

Rias stopped musing when she heard a polite knock from the door. Executors that were knocking? That was definitely knew. She motioned for Kiba to open the door and everyone tensed.. Only to relax again when they saw the familiar forms of Shirou and Illya, the later was waving cheerfully in Asia's and Koneko's direction.

"Are we interupting somethin, Rias-san?" Shirou asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. It looked like he noticed the tense atmosphere and battle stations of her servants. Maybe she could use this for her advantage.

"Oh my, you see we were expecting someone else. Two Executors were seen into town and are on their way here. Why don't you wait with us to greet them?" She smiled innocently at the two, which earned a raised eyebrow from Shirou and a snort from Illya. What was it that made the two of them aware of her intentions the second she opened her mouth? She pouted.

"Well, it's not like we have anything better to do, right Onii-chan? Might as well protect our friends from the scary church guys." Illya remarked casually and seated herself next to Shirou on a couch. A second later, she was leaning onto him and the two of them made relaxing impression even though the situation was far from it in Rias opinion.

Before she could let loose a remark about it, the door slammed open and two figures entered. Both were women and dressed in long grey coats. The taller one of the two, a girl with purple hair was carrying a huge sword covered in bandages, while the other didn't have any visible weapons with her. She had long, brown hair and a friendly face.

"Are you Rias Gremory and her peerage?" The taller of the two asked, her eyes quickly darting through the room before coming to a rest on the club president.

"That I am. We are having guests at the moment, Emiya Shirou and Illyasviel von Einzbern." She gestured to the two siblings who were waving at them lazily.

"Nice to meet you!" Shirou exclaimed and smiled at them, causing the girls to blush and Illya to roll her eyes. Rias wondered just what it was that made everyone fall in love with his honest smile.

"Hello. My name is Xenovia and this is Irina. What are you doing here in the presence of devils? You should stay away from them, they are a bad influence. If we didn't have an important mission, we would get rid of them ourselves." Xenovia stated and Rias felt fury building up in her. Nobody talked abuot killing her peerage and lived to do so again.

Before she could speak up, Illya's voice sounded across the room. "Well, you see, they are our friends. And isn't it normal to spend time with friends? I would rather be in their 'bad influence' than in the same room as people who murder because of religious non-sense." She looked up at Shirou. "Right Onii-chan?"

"That's true. But we should all calm down a bit, wasn't this supposed to be a non-violent meeting?"

The two executors sat themselves on the unoccupied couch, facing Shirou with Illya in his lap and Rias next to them. Behind them, the other ORC members turned to face the executors who introduced them as Xenovia and Shidou Irina.

"Recently the Holy-swords Excaliburs that were kept by the Catholic Church Headquarter Vatican, Protestant Church, and Eastern Orthodox Church were stolen." The statement raised more than a few eyebrows. The Ecaliburs were regarded as some of the most powerful Holy weapons and the churches jealously guarded them. For them to be stolen, the thieves had to be indredibly powerful or stealthy. Rias noted that Shirou and Illya didn't show any signs of surprise. Instead, Shirou nodded in agreement, as if he already knew about that.

 **…:::...**

Shirou didn't really notice the next few things that were spoken. He got the gist of it, something about not intering and how devils and Executors couldn't trust each other. It's not that it was uninteresting, by far, but something else had captured his attention. The band around Irina's upper arm.

Once he looked at it, he stored it in Unlimited Blade Works. He was so surprised that he needed a few seconds to register what just happened. And then he needed a few more seconds to find it again. Because, after all, it wasn't a normal arm band, but a sword. And not just any sword, it was one of the Excailburs. Disguised as an arm band. He really had to surpress his laughter, one of the most Holy swords in existence, used as clothing.

What would he see next? Durandal as door stopper? He chuckled as he remebered the one time he actually used it for that. Maybe that really had been overkill, but with Illya you could never be sure. If anyone knew about his blatant use of invaluable artifacts for mundane things.. They would probably kill him. And then burn his remains until he isn't more than dust.

Anyways, he was trailing of. He refocussed on his Reality Marble and analyzed his newest sword. And what he learned, made him fear the world he was in right now anew. This Excalibur was indeed a fragment of the original Excalibur, one of the strongest Holy swords in existence. And it indeed shattered. Near the end of the last Great War between Devil, Angel and Fallen Angel, Arthur Pendragon fought to protect his homeland against invading devil. To help him, the Angel cooperated with the Fae, a mystical race that most haven't ever heard about, and a race no one had seen in the last 200 years.

Together, they forged a sword, and while it wasn't the mightiest sword in existence, it did its purpose – to rally the people behind Arthur and to terminate the devil on the island. However, the peace didn't last long. Fallen Angel heard about the sword and formed a temporarily alliance with the devil in the area. Together they claimed England. In the last battle, his army already fallen around him, Arthur stood his ground against two Maou and a twelve winged Fallen Angel. Only their combined attacks managed to slay him, but he didn't die because of them. No, Excalibur blocked the attacks, but the pressure was to much and it shattered – the following explosion of Holy Energy killed one Maou and Arthur on the spot.

That was the tale of the sword Excalibur before it shattered. Glory, Pride and Might, it had it all. In comparison, what happened afterwards was pathetic. The church arrived at the battle, dug up the corpse of King Arthur and extracted the fragments from him. Then, after a hundred years of experimentation, an alchemist found a way to restore the pieces to full swords. Seven were madee and given to the different churches who participated in the research.

One of these swords was the one in front of him. Excalibur Mimic, the shape-shifting sword. To call it a sword was an exaggeration, it only qualified as one because the original was one. It had the ability to take the shape of any object, be it weapon or mundane. Thankfully, it couldn't recreate entchantements or abilities of said objects.. Then it would have been his Reality Marble in Blade form.

But he could see the usefulness. If he traced a few, he would have an undestructable living room.. Very useful to have if Mitelt came by again. The possibilities! Wait.. Didn't he have a prolem? Didn't he need a bow capable of firing Broken Phantasms? Then Excalibur would do just fine! Maybe even better than Archer's bow, he had to test it. Now.

Focussing back on the present, he could see Kiba glaring at Irina and Xenovia. Asia was standing behind an angry Issei with a frightful expression. The other club members all had similar expressions to different degrees. Only Illya seemed to enjoy the situation. She looked completely out of place with her amused expression and Shirou couldn't help but think that she only needed popcorn to complete the picture.

He poked her to get her attention. "What happened?"

"Hm.. Well, they both exchanged empty threads and agreed on ignoring each other for now. Kiba was a member from a Holy Sword project or something like that and hates Excalibur and wants to destroy it. Xenovia said something about Asia being a witch and Issei got mad. That's the gist of it. Now they want to fight or something like that." Illya shrugged.

"...and you didn't interupt my thought process so I could solve this situation?" 

"Nope. It was way too fun." His angry glare met a dead-pan stare and he sighed in exasperastion.

"I can't let them fight now, can I? And I really want to see that other Excalibur.." He trailed off and stood up.

"Stop that now!" All heads turned to look at him and he instantely felt the pressure in the room concentrating on him. "Eh, if you are going to fight I will take Issei's place? Asia is my friend as well and he is only a low-class devil. One hit from Excalibur and Issei is dust."

Rias looked at him with a calculative look and nodded. "That's fine with me. Trust Shirou with this one, okay Issei? I know you want to defend Asia as much as we do, but your safety is my utmost concern. Let Shirou handle this one, I am sure you won't be disappointed."

She laughed at Issei's pouting face. In the background, Irina pouted as well. "So I can't fight against my childhood friend? I wanted to show him how much I grew.."

 **…:::...**

A few minutes later, everyone had gathered in front of the ORC building in an area not accesible for normal students. Illya laid down a Bounded Field that prevented sound from leaking and signalled her okay.

In the area, Kiba was facing Xenovia with a smile while the later had a neutral expression. Shirou raised an eyebrow at Irina's rant about how God is going to forgive his soul and continued to stare at the battle attire of the Executors. They were definitely not dressed like normal Executors. If they were, the male percentage in their ranks wouldn't be too surprising he had to admit.

Both of the girls had discarded their robes to reveal a rather revealing outfit only consisting of thin black leather. It certainly looked easy to move in and if the executors in his home world were any indication it would prove to be a good protection thanks to different entchantements. But.. the outfit stopped before reaching the knees and didn't cover all of the arms, plus it highlighted certain assets.

He shook his head to clear it of these thoughts. This was a serious battle if the Excaliburs were anything to go by and he already knew that there existed high-level swordsmen and -women in this modern day and age. From the sword in Irina's hand he learned that she hadn't been wielding it for long, but had a high compability with it. Xenovia's sword was interesting as well, but didn't quite gained his curiosity as much as Excalibur Mimic.

No, Excalibur Destruction was certainly powerful, capable of sending of waves of destructive energy, destroying everything in its path. It was somewhat similar to Heracles' Sacred Gear he mused, but also worked from a distance. Kiba would be hard pressed to win this battle.

"All right, go!" Rias gave the start signal.

Immediately Irina dashed at him and he prepared the blueprints of the two falchion swords in his mind.

"Trace on." Muttering his aria under his breath, his circuits filled with prana and Kanshou and Bakuya formed. This was just a spar and he didn't plan on using one of his big guns. He only wanted to see how far his projections had come.

Their swords clashed and Shirou was underwhelmed. Excalibur Mimic's quality was formidable and durable, but Irina lacked skill and experience. She also wasn't used to fight against an opponent with two swords. No, it felt as if she solely relied on her sword to do all the work. He frowned and decided to draw the battle out for a bit, to see if she had anything more in store.

The next few minutes were filled with metallic clashes and explosions from Kiba's and Xenovia's side of the battle. Shirou dodged and parried her blows, but didn't try to attack often. Irina grinned at him and he guessed that she was confident due to his lack of attacks. It was an easy mistake to make if the heat of a battle got to your head.

Behind him, he could hear Issei cheering for him and with a quick glance back, he saw that most their faces were filled with worry. Only Illya giggled at the spare and he guessed that she knew his intention and wasn't worried at all. She had seen him fighting often enough after all.

He refocussed on Irina and decided to end it. She didn't show any progress nor special skills, so he guessed she was already at her limit. She went in for another overhead swing with a lot of force, but instead of blocking it as he had done before, he took a single step to the left, effectively dodging the swing.

With another step he was besides her, the flat of the sword in his right hand hitting the back of her hand, causing her to drop the sword. Before she could even think of diving after it, his left sword rested at the front of her neck. All that happened in the span of a second and when he came to a stillstand, everyone around him was quiet.

"I win." He stated and waited for her to react.

"I.. loose..?" Her voice trembled and Shirou retracted his swords. Irina sunk to her knees with a shocked expression.

"You already know the basics. In this spar I won because I had way more experience and practice. Don't worry, that comes with time." His words didn't manage to cheer her up, but at least she wasn't at the verge of crying anymore.

Looking around, he saw Asia healing an injured Kiba, the other members of the ORC besides him. Xenovia was already back in her robe and had wrapped Excalibur Destruction in bandages. Illya was happily walking towards him, her usual confident smile on her face.

"Onii-chan, that took way too long! I know you didn't want to end this in a few seconds, but five minutes? It got really boring after the first.." She teased and he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, I wanted to find out more about Excalibur Mimic to be fair and test my swords against them. I am honestly surprised that they only broke once though. Against the original Excalibur I would have to redo them every few seconds." Shirou stated, ignoring the confused looks of Irina and Xenovia.

By now, Irina had recovered, even though she still had a disappointed expression. Before they could go, she turned towards Shirou. "Next time I won't loose! If word got around that an Exorcist with Excalibur lost to some devil friend, it would be an embarassement. So prepare yourself!"

Shirou chuckled at her enthusiasms and reassured her that he wasn't planning on spreading the word around. "However, I have to ask you to not endanger any devil in this area. If you do, it would have dire consequences."

Xenovia looked at him for a moment and then shrugged. "As long as they don't provoke us, that's fine. After all, we can't deal with devil and Fallen Angel at the same time." With that they turned around and left Rias and her peerage alone together with the two siblings.

 **…:::...**

 **Omake:**

"Illya? ...Did you just destroy the bathroom wall?" Shirou gaped at the huge hole, temporarily forgetting that he was in the bath tub. Naked. Next to the wall, the door was still shut tightly, secured with so many swords that it was barely visible at all.

Illya just smiled innocently. "What are you saying Onii-chan? I was just practicing my magecraft and I must have gotten something wrong." She hit her forhead in fake embarassment.

"You practiced dangerous magecraft not in your workshop. But the room next to my bathroom which is also your bathroom?" He asked, not believing her words.

"Exactly! Onii-chan is so smart! But you know.. Now that I look around, a big bathroom looks way more comfortable or?" Her smile made Shirou shiver.

"What are you getting at? I am not going to share a bathroom with you."

Illya pouted. "Why? But we could take baths together and I could wash your back and.. he he he..." Her face turned redder and redder with every word, adopting a lecherous expression that wouldn't be misplaced on Issei's face.

"W-what are you saying! That's indecent!" Shirou cried out in shock.

But Illya wasn't going to stop. Her face turned serious and in the span of a second she discarded her clothing and went over to the bathtub where Shirou was in.

"W-wait.. No, we are siblings! What are you doing?!" His yelling sounded frantic now, and if it weren't for the fact that he was naked, he would have run away by now.

Just as Illya was about to step into the bathtub, the swords blocking Shirou's door broke and thee door flew open, showing a concerned Heracles.

"I heard an explosion and yelling, is there a fight I can participate or ….." Heracles looked at the two naked siblings. Then he looked at the shattered bathroom wall. Then back at Illya who was smiling innocently. "Ah, I see. Sorry for interputing. Good luck." Heracles winked at Illya and gave her a thumbs up before leaving the room, where a befuddled Shirou could only wonder just what he did to deserve this. All the right – wrong, he meant, things it seemed.


	7. 06 Preparations

**A/N: Happy holidays to all of you! I am sorry that this chapter is a bit late, but you know.. Real Life has other plans than writing fanfiction.  
I ended up splitting the chapter in two parts, because I didn't want to publish a 20k words chapter. Next chapter will be the fight with Kokabiel and afterwards.. Well, that's a surprise!  
I hope you enjoy the chapter and I am as always, happy to hear your thoughts.  
**

 **...:::...**

In the backyard of the Emiya residence, a battle was raging. It was by all means not something anyone had seen before in this world, a battle more suitable for a Holy Grail War or a fight between supernatural entities. And it was totally out of place in a backyard. Only an extremly strong Bounded Field and a tired homunculous were protecting the secrecy and controlling the damage.

Because in this backyard, there were two fighters. A huge tanned man, swinging a crude sword made of stone. Every swing shattered the ground, sending shockwaves in circles around him. But what was notable, notable because it really wasn't, was the other man. He was a mere teenage boy, running around the giant in wide circles, only armed with one weapon – a bow.

The bow itself was sleek and elegant. It looked fragile and like a piece of art, a bow you hang onto your wall to impress your friends. It didn't look like a tool of war, no the looks suggested that its dark purple material would break after a single draw. But that couldn't be right. After all, the backyard was full of destroyed 'arrows'.

To answer this riddle, one had to go back to the teenage boy hiding in the dark. While he was holding a bow, no arrow could be seen. Instead he only wore clothing suitable for combat and that was it. That's because he didn't need arrows. No, he didn't even fire arrows. He fired swords. With his fragile bow he was firing one sword after another, never stopping his running and never enabling the giant to get close to him.

The giant was pinned in the middle of the backyard, swatting swords out of the air, not capable of moving a step in any direction without opening holes in his defenses. If he was up against a normal Archer, he could have charged at his position, relying on his unnatural reflexes to dodge or defend against the arrows, but against this one.. The arrows had a force behind them that more than matched the giant's own strength.

And what's more, the Archer didn't just fire any swords.. No, flying at the giant were swords only found in legends and lyrics, constructs that shouldn't exist. Not that he knew. All he knew was that these annyoing swords _changed their flying path_ after missing him. Only after he destroyed them, they stopped circling him until they hit him. The giant wondered, just what kind of swordsman was that good of an Archer? Being extremly skilled in one was unusual for a person his age, but two.. What else was there, the boy could do?

The giant shook his head and decided to break this stalemate. If it continued like that, he would eventually tire out enough for the Archer to beat him. And he knew from experience that the Archer wasn't going to run out of swords to fire. The giant opened his mouth and roared, a sound so primal that it wasn't wrong to assume it belonged to a beast. The Archer stopped for a moment, confused at the action and that was all the giant, the berserker, needed to start charging.

Of course that didn't go unanswered. As soon as he did a single step, the swords started to fly faster and more accurate than before. Now, they aimed for lethal areas instead of disabling ones, forcing the giant to defend against the incoming barrage. But he didn't stop. He swung his sword, faster and faster, the size helping him in deflecting the arrows by simply being in front of him. Not that it did much to the accuracy.

Suddenly, the Archer stopped the head-on barrage, either seeing that he couldn't break through the man's defense or trying to widen the distance between them. A feral grin spread on the face of the giant. This was his chance. Without the need to defend himself, he could strengthen his charge, making it unable for the Archer to stop him.

Well, that was if he would have continued the frontal assault. Instead, a dozen red swords were passing his sides and he knew that he didn't have much time left. These swords would soon turn around and aim for his unprotected back. He would either have to stop and defend himself or try and defeat the Archer before they hit him. Naturally, he decided on the later course of action.

He closed in on the Archer who couldn't outrun the giant while running backwards and raised his sword to gut the person who was responsible for his troubles in the last few minutes. However, the Archer did something very uncharacteristic for one of his profession.. He stopped and swung his bow like a sword.

The huge stone sword collided with the fragile looking bow and it shattered. Surprise written in the giant's face, he couldn't do anything as the bow continued to close in on his throat. When the bow stopped, it wasn't a bow anymore. Instead in the Archer's hands there was a simple katana and it rested next to the giant's throat who groaned disappointed in response.

"It's my loss... Again. One day you will run out of tricks and I'll defeat you Shirou. That I swear by the pride of my name, Heracles!" The now identified Heracles exclaimed, collapsing on the ground exhausted. "It's not fair. Just when I thought I have seen everything you can do, you pull out this bow and use it like you were born with it. And start firing swords of all things, who the hell does that?"

Shirou chuckled in response and let the katana in his hands shatter to pieces similar to the stone sword before. "I'm not that good. You were able to close in on me after all, that shouldn't happen to anyone claiming to be an expert with the bow. I only won because your sword was already close to breaking due to you using it to block all the arrows."

"Yeah, sure. It's not like you could defeat me in close combat as well, right?" Heracles said with an extremly sarcastic voice. "And I'm like one of the only ones who can actually defend against that barrage of sword-arrows and that's just because you told me how to defend against it without dying.. And I still think that you went easy on me!"

"Maybe.. But I didn't want to hurt you! I don't think Asia would be able to heal you if you were dead. So I only aimed for non-lethal places and didn't use the most destructive ones.. Anyways, that isn't important now. I hereby declare this bow-testing experiment succesful!" Shirou shouted happily.

 **...:::...**

An hour later, an extremly tired little girl entered a certain red-head's workshop.

"Onii-chan, I finished.. *yawn* ..fixing the courtyard.. please learn how to do it yourself. I don't care if you are close to uncapable of learning that, I will force you to learn it. Is there anything else or can I go to bed?" Illya mumbled in a sleepy voice with half-closed eyes.

Shirou smiled at the sight, thankful for his sister's help. He knew that she had a tiring day behind her and it was close to midnight right now, a time they normally were fast asleep. Or he would be at least. Sometimes Illya did a marathon session of anime watching and would only sleep for one or two hours in a night.. Just like last night.

On any other day, she would be fast asleep by now, but Shirou was too exited to test out the Exali-bow, as he came to call it, and asked her to stay awake so he could do so. Somehow that ended in an hour long fight between him and Heracles and an impressive amount of destroyed area. He offered her to do the cleaning up tomorrow, but she insisted on doing so tonight, claiming that people may come over tomorrow and would certainly ask about the destruction.

He couldn't argue with that and decided to finish his notes on the Excali-bow. Shirou wondered if there was anyone else in the world who could have thought of using one of the mightiest Holy Swords for something like that, but he didn't really care. After all, he now finally had a bow firing his swords! And the Excali-bow didn't even look strained. It was the perfect bow for him, he had to admit. Now he only needed to test it with Broken Phantasms like Caladbolg II, but he decided that could wait until he needed it in a real fight. Or had a lot of space to blow up.

His gaze wandered back to Illya and found her slumped down on a wall, her back against it. Just as he was about to open his mouth to thank her for her hard work, he noticed that she was already asleep. Smiling to himself, he closed his notes and stood up from where he was sitting behind his desk. Walking over to her small form, he wondered just where she found the strength to repair the whole backyard without falling asleep, if she did so seconds after entering his workshop.

Shirou gently picked her up and shifted her small body in his arms, until he held her securely. He didn't really notice that he held her in a fashion most known for marriaged, but even if he did, he wouldn't care. There was nobody around to see them and Heracles was most likely in his room showering. He exited his workshop after turning off the lights and started the short walk back to the house.

In his arms, Illya shifted slightly, leaning more into him and unintentionally pressing against him. He was about to reposition her when he noticed the small unconcious smile on her lips. How could he do anything to destroy that? So he resigned himself to his fate and carried her to her room. Gently removing her shoes, he laid Illya in her bed and wrapped her up comfortably in her blanket.

He definitely didn't think about the fact that she was still in the clothes she wore during the day and would be too tired to change into her pyjamas. And he most definitely didn't think about undressing her to change her. No, his face was red because he was so exhausted, yes, that was the reason. After all, what kind of brother blushed about the thought of seeing his sister nearly naked? Unthinkable that he would be one of them.

In his mind, pictures of Illya flashed through his head. Illya in her skimpy pyjamas during their trip to the hot springs and how they slept next to each other.. Illya sitting under the star-lit sky, gazing upwards with a dreamy expression.. Illya smiling excitedly at her ice cream.. Illya pouting at his teasing..

Shirou faintly shook his head to clear it of these thoughts. She was family, the only one left in this world to call as such. And he had sworn to protect her, no matter what. It was no wonder that she was on his mind so often. He turned around and left the room, closing the door silently. However, just before it closed, he could hear Illya mumbling in her sleep.

"I love you... Onii-chan..."

 **...:::...**

Rias and Akeno were sitting in the ORC clubroom, talking about what to do with the current situation. After the mock battle with the Executors, Yuuto left and hadn't returned yet. Furthermore, the last words exchanged between him and Rias were less than friendly. Akeno worried about her best friend.

Rias was a person that saw her peerage as her family, a view nearly unique to the devil's society. For her, everyone was invaluable and she wouldn't part with them for anything. Instead of treating them like expendable chess pieces, she strived to give her peerage members a family, something that most of them were lacking.

Akeno herself, the first of Rias' pieces, was a child from a Fallen Angel and a human woman. When her clan killed her mother and mortaly wounded Akeno, Rias showed up and rescued her. Akeno still was thankful to her for that day and had sworn to stay with her and protect her as long as she could.

Koneko lost her family as well. She and her older sister were taken in by a devil when their parents died and stayed with him for a short time. Then came the fateful day when her older sister killed said devil and fled, leaving Koneko behind. Schedulded to be executed, Sirzechs, Rias' older brother, saved her from her gruelsome fate and gave her to his little sister.

And then there was Rias' bishop, Gasper Vladi. A cross-dressing dhampire of all things. Gasper was born between the Vampire Lord Vladi and a human mother; the latter of whom died shortly after giving birth to Gasper, who was born as a mass of darkness which accidentally cursed his mother and several servants to death. Between the incredible fear of Gasper's true form from the higher ups, his uncontrollable Sacred Gear the Forbidden Balor View, and people's general prejudice towards the half breed, Gasper grew up in isolation and abuse. One day, he escaped the castle and was killed by a vampire hunter shortly afterwards, only to be ressurected by Rias.

Asia was a former holy figure in the church because of her Sacred Gear, until it was discovered that it could heal devils as well. Adding the fact that Asisa did so willingly, the Church banished her and she fell into the hands of Fallen Angels.

Issei.. Well, Issei was a special case. He didn't loose his family, nor did he go through a series of traumatic events. Not really at least, Akeno didn't count getting stabbed from his girlfriend was too traumatic for him. After all, he was a pervert and Rias spoiled him more than necessary, even sleeping naked next to him. If the boy wasn't the Red Dragon Kaiser, his dream of being a Harem King would be unreachable, but Akeno had to admit he was doing good progress on that front.

Yuuto Kiba's history was just as tragic as the ones of the other members. Being a nameless orphan, he was adopted by the Church as a part of the Holy Sword Project. There, he was tested and experimented on again and again, the only reason why he didn't give up on life were the friends he met there. The friends that died in front of him when the experiment failed and they weren't needed anymore. Just because of their sacrifice, he could escape to meet Rias.

In a way, it was ironic how Rias managed to find all of them at their lowest moments. Maybe that's the famous devils' luck? It would certainly fit, all of them are extremly powerful after all. Akeno was really curious who would join them next. Maybe an Executor and a powerful figure of Norse Mythology? That would certainly fit the uniqueness of the peerage.

So it wasn't a surprise that Rias was hurt and worried about Yuuto. He basically told her that he would leave and be a stray devil if it enabled him to chase down the Excaliburs. If that came to pass, Rias would be tasked to hunt him down and kill him and Akeno didn't think she or anyone in the peerage would be able to kill their friend.

"Why did he say that, Akeno? Didn't I give him a family and a new reason to live? Something to forget his revenge for?" Rias asked more to herself than anyone else. She sighed sadly and turned to Akeno.

"I'm sure he will come back, Rias. Once he realizes revenge is pointless, he will be back by our side. And in the meantime, he will search for the Excaliburs, venting his anger. If he actually succeeded in detroying one, that would be great news to the devil communities!" The queen in the peerage replied carefully, trying to cheer Rias up.

"True.. But I worry about him. What if he runs into someone who is stronger? Someone with an Excalibur who will just kill him then? I don't want to loose him! If I have to, I will lock him in his room, forcefully." Rias stated and Akeno's smile widened slightly at the thought.

"I think I would like that.." She ignored the irritated glance Rias gave her. "Let's just have a familiar follow him and help him if he runs into trouble. And I think Issei, Koneko and that pawn of Sona's are going to search for him and help him as well. Let them do their thing and wait, everything will be fine."

Rias sighed in defeat. "I hate to admit it, but you are right." She looked out of the windows for a few seconds and then continued talking. "And I have the feeling that Shirou and Illya are planning something as well. In the last few months, a Fallen Angel visited their house quite frequently from what I could gather."

"The siblings and the Fallen Angel, huh? That would fit with the reports of Azazel speaking favourable of them. Well, of the boy at least, I think he called Illya-chan a greedy little witch." Akeno chuckled in amusement and Rias joined her. It wasn't often that Azazel complained that openly about people.

"Maybe they are his agents here? It would certainly explain their abilities. But then again, they wouldn't stop the Fallen Angels in person then, but inform him instead. An alliance of sorts? I can certainly see their potential uses, Shirou defeated Irina very easily after all." Rias remarked and Akeno had to agree with that. Xenovia had been able to defeat Yuuto without many difficulties while it looked as if Shirou just played with Irina.

"Well, his swords are capable of blocking Excalibur strikes, maybe he already unlocked his Balance Breaker. I just don't see how they could be of any use against Kokabiel. That guy has raw power in spades, a talented swordsman and mage couldn't hope to accomplish anything against him. If only they were devils.."

"We tried that, Akeno. And as much as I want them to join us, we can't force them. I'm not even sure we could defeat both of them.." Rias trailed off, but shook her head. "It doesn't matter. This is a matter between Devils, Fallen Angels and the Church, we are not going to deliberatly putting them into danger."

 **...:::...**

Illya gritted her teeth in annoyance. That brat was back and she was as enraging as ever. She kind of got the appeal of seeing Shirou and jumping at him in joy, but calling him 'Shirou-sama' and clinging to him like that? No way in hell was she going to let that slide. Yes, it would only need a flick of her hand, activating her circuits and taking her by surprise.. Wait, didn't she have these thoughts before? She was pretty sure she did, maybe she should hold back a bit.

'Okay, that's enough.' Totally forgetting her previous train of thoughts, she activated her Magic Circuits and created a dozen hair swords, all aiming at the little pest. However, they missed her because Shirou separated them just in time, by throwing Mitelt in Berserker's general direction. Heracles. Weird name. But she had to give him credit, since he didn't catch the wildly flailing Fallen Angel, but instead watched her fly past him and hit a wall. He followed that action by rising a single eyebrow at Shirou, as if he was asking if he were supposed to catch it.

Illya giggled to herself and turned towards the living room, expecting to see it destroyed. Every time Mitelt came over, they ended up destroying the living room and by now, Shirou and Illya didn't keep any easy breakable items in it. Normally, she just fixed whatever damage the dealt, but this time it didn't seem necessary. She looked at her brother in confusion.

"Onii-chan? What happened, why isn't everything broken?" Her confusion clearly showing in her voice.

"Well..." Shirou drawled, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck. "You know how I told you about various experiments I wanted to do?" Illya nodded, not looking any less confused.

"I might have ended up overdoing it. You see, I expected Mitelt-san to visit" Shirou stopped shortly because Mitelt shouted "For you it's Mitelt- _chan_ , Shirou-sama!" and continued after she finished. "And since the living rooms ends up destroyed every time, I thought, hey, why don't I project the furniture that time?"

"That's surprisingly well thought of, Onii-chan." Illya said in admiration, but seeing Shirou's embarassed smile, she grew suspicious and narrowed her eyes at him. "What are you not telling me?"

Shirou sighed in defeat. "This isn't normal furniture. Normal furniture would have broken. So I thought which sword can also be furniture?" Illya froze as she puzzled together just what she was sitting on. Shirou continued to talk. "So I ended up replacing the furniture with Excalibur Mimics.."

Illya looked at him and then back to the furniture. And then back at Shirou. Finally she couldn't stop herself and burst out laughing. How could she not? Shirou might as well be the only one who could come up with that idea. Using one of the most powerful holy swords in existance for _furniture_ of all things was just so like him. If the Executors found out, she was sure they would start a war with him for this blasphemy.

Thankfully, there weren't any Executors in the room. Just a confused and unknowing Fallen Angel and Heracles who already knew about some of Shirou's abilities. But it seemed that the shock that he could project Excalibur Mimic was all but drowned by the ridiculousness of this situation. He was similar to Illya lying on the ground laughing and holding his stomach.

Mitelt looked at Shirou to get him to explain, but was instead captivated by his expression. Shirou was pouting and glaring at the same time. That caused her to jump at him in adoration again. Which caused Illya to stop laughing and start trying to kill her. While the well-known scene continued, Illya swore she could hear Shirou mutter "This was a good idea after all..".

 **...:::...**

A few minuted later everyone had calmed down and repositioned to the still flawless couch. Shirou smiled proudly to himself. That sword-couch wasn't only indestructable, it was also very comfortable. He definitely had to do more research about Excalibur Mimic..

He refocussed on the situation on hand. The last time Mitelt came to visit them, she asked them to prevent a war. It seems that there have been new developments.

"So why are you here Mitelt-san?" Shirou asked their guest and the mood turned serious.

"We found out who the thief is. Kokabiel of the Grigori, one of the leader of the Fallen Angels. I think I told you about how he wanted to restart the war? It seems that he wants to use the Excaliburs to do so. By stealing three of the Holy Swords and with the help of a Holy Swords expert, he wants to reforge them in this city." Mitelt stated and Heracles jaw dropped, knowing what that would entitle.

"Why is that such a big thing?" Illya asked, confused. "They are just swords, what kind of horrible thing could reforging three Excaliburs do?"

Surprisingly, Heracles answered. "For one, nobody ever found a possible way to reforge the fragments into the original Excalibur, that would require immense amounts of magic power. More than Kokabiel would have, so most likely they are going to couple the reforging with a magic draining spell. But for the amount of energy needed, they would need to wipe a whole town from the map. A town about the size of the town we are living in."

Illya and Shirou paled at the thought, but Berserker wasn't finished just yet. "And that wouldn't be the worst thing. Such a mighty sword in the hands of a mighty Fallen Angel could eradicate whole armies of Devils and a good amount of Angels as well. Add to that, that by reforging the sword here, he also kills two Devil heiresses who are sisters of two of the Maous, he basically starts a war and wins it in the same move. None of the Maous would back down after a family member was killed."

"Okay.. I get now why Azazel asked for our help." Shirou shuddered and looked at his sister who was in a similar shocked state. "But why isn't he stopping him himself? If he knew all that, why not act?"

Mitelt looked embarassed and only answered after a few seconds. "..well, he kind of wants to know what you are capable of? He said that you wouldn't decline because Shirou-sama has an unwavering sense of justice and Illya- _chan_.. She is way too greedy to pass an opportunity to place Azazel-sama in her debt."

Next to her, Heracles snickered at the thought of Illya forcing the Leader of the Fallen Angel to buy her presents. Illya however was scowling at the Fallen Angel. Shirou quickly changed his smile to a neutral expression, just in time before Illya turned to look at him.

"I guess we don't really have a choice.." Illya muttered, glancing at her brother.

"It's the right thing to do. And I would also like to know what one of the strongest Fallen Angels is capable of. It's a good opportunity to test ourselves." Shirou said thoughtfully. He didn't really fancy putting Illya, Heracles, Illya, himself and escpecially Illya in a life-threatening environment, but he needed to evaluate their overall combat capabilities. And Azazel wouldn't place his entire trust in two teens, he surely had a back-up plan.

Heracles wasn't that hesitant to agreeing. Not that anyone asked him to agree, they all just kind of expected him to follow them. "I knew I made the right decision! That's a fight to die for! Let's go kick some ass!"

Illya giggled at his antics and turned back to Mitelt. "Do we have to fight Kokabiel or can we just grab the Excaliburs and run?"

"It's very likely that he is just going to kill the Maous' sisters then. The only safe way to catch him would be during the process of reforging. A spell of that scale needs around two hours to charge."

"A fight is inevitable then, huh?" Illya sighed and glanced at her brother. "But don't worry, Onii-chan and I will take care of him. We just moved here after all, it would be way too annoying to search a new house.."

"And it would be way too annoying if all these innocent people die, right Illya?" Shirou deadpanned at his sisters' words.

"I guess. A war would be way too troublesome. Think of all the animes that would be left unfinished! It's bad enought that I have to wait a week for a new episode."

"..." "..." "..." Everyone turned to stare at the small white-haired girl.

"What?!"

 **...:::...**

"Okay, let me get this straight." Shirou groaned while pinching the bridge of his nose. "Because Yuuto hates the Excaliburs, you want to ask the Exorcists if you could destroy them. After they found the others and put the thieves to justice?"

"Yep." Koneko and Issei nodded enthusiastically, not noticing Shirou's incredulous look. Saji on the other hand did and gave him a look that said 'They forced me to go along with them'.

"I wish I could be there when you tell them.." Illya wiped away a few tears from laughing too hard. "Asking to destroy some of the mightiest and oldest weapons. And you really think they would allow you something so ridiculous?"

"Of course! Because in exchange we plan to offer them our help in their task!" Issei stated confidently, causing both of the siblings to sweat-drop.

"Onii-chan.. I will let you handle this. If I stay here, I will never finish the spell I was working on. That's just too funny." The homunculous told her older brother and started walking in the direction of the door to their backyard. When she passed Shirou, she started to mutter to herself. "I must tell Heracles about that.. Asking Exorcists of all people to destroy holy artifacts. As devils... He will love to hear that.."

Shirou smiled apolegetically at the devils in front of him. "Ah, you see Illya and I were in the middle of preparing everything for a difficult spell. I apologize for her rudeness, she is just a bit annoyed because she had to draw runes for about three hours."

"Huh?" Issei looked at him confused. "Is that some kind of Magecraft, Shirou-san? I thought only Illya-chan was a mage?"

Shirou smiled at that. "Well, just because I am no good at it, doesn't mean I can't use it. I can use only about three spells and that's it. Additionally, these three spells are regarded as completely useless by most."

"You are just like me then!" Issei exclaimed happily. "I am also no good at all this demonic power stuff. I think Akeno said I was the devil with the least amount of demonic power she had ever seen!" His voice sounded proud and he put his fist to his chest, as if he had accomplished something great.

"Ano, Ise-senpai? You know that's bad, right?" Koneko stated in her usual monotone voice, but Shirou thought he could detect a hint of disbelief. He was getting very good at reading the small white-haired girl, in the past few weeks she had spent a lot of time at the Emiya estate. Illya had suspected that she was a victim of Shirou's cooking and entered a state of addiction to his food. After asking her how she knew that, Illya had just said that she had been in that state since she first had tasted his cooking.

"No, because Shirou-san is that strong with only using his Sacred Gear! That means I will be even stronger eventually because I have a Longinus. Then I will be the ultimate Harem King!" Issei raised one of his fists in a victory pose.

"Pervert." The nekomata deadpanned. "So Shirou-senpai, are you going to help us?"

The red-head shook his head in response. "I'm sorry, but Illya and I need to finish that spell, so we are very busy. Furthermore, it wouldn't feel right to destroy the Excaliburs, no matter what. They may not be the original, but they are still extremely powerful and versatile. I couldn't stand the thought of destroying such beautiful swords."

"That's too bad then. Oh and please don't tell Buchou or Kaichou about this. We are kind of doing this on our own." Issei rubbed the back of his head in embarassment.

"Don't worry, I don't see a reason to do so. Be careful!" Shirou called after them.

 **...:::...**

Illya was looking proudly at the magic circle in Shirou's workshop. She wasn't the most proficient in formalcraft since her family specialized in Alchemy, but her natural talent with magic enabled her to study that particular branch of magic as well. However, in the last few hours she had remembered why she never bothered to really learn it.. It was just plain boring.

Formalcraft was the use of magic with the help of magic circles, rituals or sacrifices. The magic circles helped to stabilize, power and strengthen the used spell and sometimes even had the spell written in them, so it could be activated in an extremely short time. All in all, it was very helpful for rituals, like the Servant Summoning in the Holy Grail War, but useless in combat unless you fought in a beforehand prepared battlefield.

If only it wasn't so exhausting.. Drawing all the small runes around the circle carefully and making sure that everything was in the perfect place was tiring. But doing it twice? Oh, how she hated it, all of it. And her hand still hurt a bit because the ritual needed her blood to work better with her prana. At least she was finished now.

She was happy that they didn't draw these circles in her workshop, cleaning that up would be a pain. The door opened and she saw a concerned looking Shirou walking in.

"What's bothering you Onii-chan?" She asked curiously. Illya was aware that he didn't like refusing Issei's and Koneko's request, but they didn't really have any choice. They had to prepare to find the location of the reforging as fast as possible. That was why Illya was preparing this spell. It was a wide-scale searching spell that scanned the whole city for a particular magical semblance, the semblance that all Excaliburs shared. The only catch with this spell was that the Excalibur needed to be wielded to emit this semblance.

It regrettably didn't work when the Excaliburs were just lying around. The key to this spell was Shirou, or to be more precise, his traced Excalibur. By consistently powering it with prana through one of the magic circles, the spell had something to search for. It had taken a few days for the siblings to come up with something complex like that, but in the end they succeeded. Now everything that was left to do was the activation.

"It's just.. Even though I don't think that Kokabiel would show himself to them before executing his plan, I can't help but worry about them. They are nowhere near the level they need to fight him, from what I heard." Shirou looked at his sister with a thoughtful expression.

"Hm, don't worry about that Onii-chan! I'm sure they could survive for five minutes, and that's all the time we need to arrive at their position. Isn't that part of the reason why we went for a spell like this?" Illya tried to reassure him.

Smiling slightly, Shirou patted her head, causing her to adopt a blissful expression. "I guess so. Let's get this started then, Illya. Now that they are actively searching for the thieves, the chances of us finding them increases as well."

"Hai." Illya nodded. "Then please project one Excalibur and place it in the middle of the circle."

She watched as Shirou carefully stepped in between the differen segments of the circle, trying not to mess up her work. "Trace on." A moment later, he held a huge sword in his hand that Illya recognized as Excalibur Destruction.

"I thought you liked the other one more Onii-chan?" Illya asked curiously. He had more than once told her about all the different possibilities of Excalibur Mimic and the uselessness of Excalibur Destruction in comparison.

"I do, Illya. But every time I try to see the true form of that sword, I get a headache and no clear answer at all. It's just everything at once! And because I wanted this spell to succeed, I decided to go for the safer option." Shirou admitted sheepishly.

"Better safe than sorry, huh?" Illya mused and waited for Shirou to get out of the magic circle. "Okay, I will start now."

The small homunculous concentrated on her magic circuits and the vast amount of od in her body. With a small mental command, all of her circuits opened and soon prana flooded her entire being. It was a thrilling experience. After a few seconds of managing her prana, she approached the circle and started chanting in German, like she always did when utilizing her magecraft.

 _"Suchen und finden, überall."  
"Die Aura des Schwertes ist mein Begehr."  
"Führe mich zu ihr, in dieser Stadt."  
"Warne bei Benutzung, zeige mir den Ort."  
"Ich befehle dir, hör meinen Befehl!"_

Illya felt the prana leaving her body and powering the magic circle in front of her. With a faint glow, the circle started humming and after a few seconds the sword slowly started to levitate in the air. The glow grew stronger as she pushed more prana in the circle, carefully activating the second one which drew mana out of the air to power the searching spell. It needed a certain amount of prana to start with and she had decided that just to be safe she would feed it with enough power to last for two days on its own.

After everything was finished, Illya let out a relieved sigh and closed her magic circuits which were emitting a pleasant warmth by now. She hadn't used more than a quarter of her od, but it was still exhausting. After all, a quarter of her od would be more than twice of Shirou's capabilities. If she had presented the spell to her grandfather or the Magic Association, they would have laughed at the immense power requirement for such a basic skill and disregarded it completely.

Sure, over time she could develop a cheaper, easier and faster version, but it wouldn't be finished in time. And there wasn't anyone knowledgable enough to laugh at her, not that her brother ever would. Illya smiled to herself as she saw his astonished expression. It always surprised her how easily impressed he was by the simplest things magecraft could accomplish.

One of her fondest memories was when part of his house in Fuyuki was destroyed and Illya single-handedly fixed it in a few hours. His open-mouthed expression was priceless and she still regretted not having a camera back then. Thankfully she did have one when she controlled her familiars so, that they acted like living birds..

She looked back at the magic circle and didn't notice anything wrong. However, the magic circle didn't give any indications of an Excalibur being found, so she still wasn't sure if it was working perfectly. Turning back to her brother, she saw him still staring at the glowing construct in front of him.

"Onii-chan, that should be it. Now we can only wait for a feedback. Why don't we go eat something? I think Berserker, eh Heracles, is getting impatient as well. I swear I just heard his stomach growling!"

Shirou looked at her for a second and was about to say something, when a deep rumbling sound echoed through the room from outside. Both of the siblings broke out laughing. "Alright, let's get dinner ready before he starts eating the fridge!"

 **...:::...**

Dinner was a pleasant affair, as always. Afterwards, Illya immediately went back to the shed to check everything while Berserker and Shirou were sitting on the veranda in the backyard. Both were drinking tea. Shirou broke the comfortable silence.

"I know I asked you this before, Heracles, but are you happy about staying with us? In the last weeks both Illya and I noticed that you are a good guy. If you promise to stop hurting anyone, we would let you go, you know?"

Heracles looked at him surprised, raising one eyebrow. "You would, I am sure. But that little sister of yours is disturbingly fixated with me for some reason."

Shirou laughed quietly in his cup. "She once had a protector, before I met her. We all called him Berserker, because, well, he was one. He looked very similar to you and if Berserker hadn't been mad, I think he would have acted like you do as well. You have to understand that Illya has always been alone, since she was little. Her parents involuntarily left her when she was small and her grandfather manipulated her to hate both him and me."

He sighed sadly and wrapped the arms around his knees, while Berserker listened carefully. Normally the siblings were very secretive about their past, and besides little anecdotes, he knew next to nothing about them. That Shirou was telling him that much meant that he was trusting Heracles a lot.

"It was Berserker's duty to protect her. But she was waging war against me and my friends, and in the end I had to kill him. That day I gained a sister, but she lost someone very important to her. Thankfully, she doesn't resent me for it, but sometimes I caught her looking sad and depressed and I can't help but blame myself for it. Why couldn't that end without a fight?"

Shirou was clenching his fist strongly by now and Heracles was about to pat him on the shoulder when he continued. "So I have to thank you Heracles. Thank you for trying to kill us. Thank you for staying with us and being who you are."

He smiled at the giant of a man sincerely, who blinked in surprise. He definitely hadn't expected that.

"Thanks to you, Illya refound some of her confidence. She is way more cheerful and motivated. Because of your presence I am able to see her smile more often. So if you need anything, tell me and I will help you to the best of my abilities."

Heracles smiled at the boy. "It's a pleasure, my friend. I have learned a lot since I have met you two and I am glad I did. I shiver at the thought of us being enemies.. I would have died before I knew what hit me." He chuckled to himself and slapped the teenager on the back, who nearly fell down by the strength of the slap.

Suddenly, Heracles face turned serious. "Shirou-san, I only have one fear. If Illya-chan ever decides to force me to wear a maid uniform, you must stop her with all you have. And if you fail, you must wear one as well."

Shirou looked at the man with a blank expression for a few seconds and then shivered at the thought. Heracles nodded thoughtfully. A minute later, both of them were rolling on the floor laughing.

 **...:::...**

"Illya?" Illya heard Shirou calling her through the house. She jumped down from the bed where she was reading a manga and opened her door to reveal Shirou leaning at her doorframe.

"What can I do for you, O~nii~chan~?" Illya asked in a playful voice and smirked. The boy in front of her nearly tripped, even though he was standing still, but caught himself in time.

"I just wanted to know if there is any progress in locating the Excaliburs?"

"Hm, not really. The spell didn't pick up anything significant in the last few days. Well, except a few short moments where someone used an Excalibur. But as you know, they were just short instances, as if someone was experimenting with them. I still can't locate the location though, we would need a fight that lasts at least for half a minute.." Illya mused and Shirou nodded with a serious expression.

"Let me know as soon as you pick something up, Illya." The red-haired teen started to turn around, but Illya caught his sleeve between her fingers.

"What aren't you telling me Onii-chan? You are way more tense than usual..." The homunculous stated.

"..I can't really hide anything before you, can I?" Shirou asked with an amused sigh.

"Nope." Illya half-smiled, popping the 'p'. "So why don't you come in and tell your cute little imoutu everything about your worries?" She smiled at Shirou and he admitted defeat. There was no way that he could say no to that smile.

A minute later, they were both sitting on Illya's bed which was just cleared free from stray mangas and anime DVDs Illya had lying around. Shirou turned to Illya with a conflicted expression.

"I'm just not sure if we can do that, you know? I mean Azazel asked us to stop a war! A thrice god-damn war between three absolutely ridiculous powerful races. How can we even hope to beat one of their leaders? We are up against someone whose name stands in the Bible!"

Illya laid one of her hands on Shirou's in concern. "It will be fine Onii-chan. We are two very powerful magicians in our own right, and you have an incredible amount of combat abilities. You have weapons which are literally able to kill gods. And you don't really have to worry about me anymore. With Heracles fighting with us, I bet we could take on a small army. But we are just fighting one guy plus not important entourage. I'm more than sure that we can beat them."

Shirou sighed and smiled softly. "I know, I should be more confident. I just wish that I had already finished the employment of my Reality Marble. It would give us a huge advantage.."

"We will be fine without it! And come on, even if not, I'm more than sure that Azazel has some back-up plan. That man isn't a one trick pony. So, if we fail, no war will be started and this world will be safe!" Illya said encouragely.

"That might be true, but.." Shirou blushed faintly and rubbed the back of his head. "I don't want you to get hurt! If you died, I wouldn't know what to do! There's a real chance that you will get hurt and I don't want that!"

He was quiet for a minute and then continued with an almost pleading expression. "If you want, we can just leave. Run away from the fight, leave everything behind and hide. Find a safe place and live our lifes quietly. I'm not striving to be a hero anymore, who is throwing himself in every fight he can. I'm just a concerned brother who doesn't want his sister to get hurt!"

Illya gave him a true and beautiful smile. That were the words she had wanted to hear the whole time. Her brother was ready to give up everything he was before, just so she would be safe. It was perfect, beautiful and at the completely wrong time. Because for all she wanted to just take Shirou and leave, she couldn't. If she did, she would die in less than a year and leave him beind, heartbroken. And she couldn't do that to him, not ever. She needed the devils and Fallen Angels.

Her smile changed slightly, now she was smiling sadly at him. "I would love to do that, Onii-chan. But not now. Wouldn't that mean we would have to leave all our new friends behind? Wouldn't it be no different from the loss of Rin, Sakura, Saber, Rider and Taiga? I know I am your main concern, and I'm unbelievable happy about that, but.. I think we, especially you, would regret it."

Her smile turned mischievous. "And I can't miss the chance of the leader of the Fallen Angels being indebted to us! Just think of all the things he could give us! The magical items! The raw materials! With his help, we could jump leaps and bounds in your research and mine! And all the money.." She giggled a bit crazily and after a second, Shirou chuckled with her.

The heavy mood lifted considerabely and the two smiled at each other, faces only few centimeters apart. Shirou couldn't avert his gaze from her blood red eyes, and continued to stare at her in silence. After a minute, Illya moved closer to Shirou, slowly inching forward, until...

"Guys, there is somebody on the door for you...?" Heracles trailed off, stepping through the still open door. However, he didn't finish his sentence because of the scene in front of him. He knew that he just walked in at the second when his little master wanted to kiss her brother and interrupted them.

Even though their faces were more than funny, Shirou looking confused and totally obvious about what was going to happen and Illya having a mixture of embarrassment, anger, and annoyance on her face. Slowly, Heracles inched backwards and turned around the corner, hoping that his punishment wasn't going to be too bad.

Before he left, he heard Shirou saying "I will just go and see who is at the door!" and face-palmed. He really liked the boy, but most of the times he was so oblivious to the feelings of love of others, that Heracles wanted to hurt him. Really badly. Maybe, just maybe, he needed to talk with Shirou and tell him about a few things.. That is, if he survived Illya's wrath.

 **...:::...**

Four days after Issei, Koneko and Saji came to the siblings' house, the spell located an Excalibur. Illya was up and running as soon as she got the mental feedback from the searching spell, nearly kicking in Shirou's door.

"I found one and it's not one of the Churches' Excaliburs. The amount of energy suggests that the wielder is fighting against someone or something, so I think we should be able to arrive there in time." She informed Shirou and both of them immediately ran downstairs, picking up Heracles on their way.

"Okay, they are very close to our home, we should be there in two minutes." Illya told the others as they were running through streets and gardens. They were taking the shortest way to the location, which means they didn't bother with streets. Instead they jumped from one garden wall to another, making jumps that no normal human could hope to accomplish. Only sheer luck saved them from being seen.

True to her words, they arrived two minutes later, finding Koneko, Issei, Saji and Yuuto facing two guys in priest outfits. One of them had the aura of an older gentleman, while the other one just looked crazy. Shirou signalled for the others to wait and took a good look at the sword in the crazy priest's hand.

Excalibur Rapidly, his structural grasping told him. He felt it embedding itself in the wide desert of his Reality Marble and analyzed it as good as he could quickly. Similar to Excalibur Destruction, it only had one ability, besides being an extremely strong holy sword. Excalibur Rapidly grants the wielder incredibly enhanced speed, fast enough to create afterimages of oneself, if used correctly. The sword also seems to give the wielder enhanced flexibility, making it easier to avoid attacks at high speed.

Its form was interesting as well. Instead of a European style sword like Excalibur Destruction, Excalibur Rapidly had the form of a long Kris. A Kris is normally supposed to be a dagger, shaped similar to Rule Breaker, the dagger of Medea of Colchis, but Excalibur Rapidly looked like a long version of it. The only difference was that it had a lot less turns in its blade, so it was still quite straight.

The reason why they were just looking at the scene and not intervening, was because it wouldn't change anything. It actually suited them fine if the two priests successfully fled. If the devils were able to capture them and destroy the Excaliburs, Kokabiel would just kill everyone and that would be way worse.

No, the siblings built on Kokabiel's reputation of a war loving leader who liked to flaunt his prizes. That meant that he wouldn't do anything if his original plans were set in motion, which included baiting the Maou out from the underworld to fight him. The time needed for the reforging ritual to be completed, was the only time for the siblings to fight him. If they wanted to attack him before, they would have to storm his base and no magus in their right mind just goes into an enemy base when there is another choice.

So they just watched the scene unfold in front of them, making sure that everyone was safe. After a short talk and a tense moment where Shirou thought he had to jump to action, the priests fled with the Executors chasing them. They didn't really care for the two girls, they were just at the wrong location at the wrong time and would surely be easily defeated if they managed to find Kokabiel's hideout.

Even though it hurt Shirou to admit it, it was better to maybe sacrifice the two, especially if they were on a course to unknowingly sabotage their plan. His concern was Illya first and then the devils he became friends with over the last few weeks.

The scene in front of them ended with the appearance of two furious looking devil kings who started to spank their pawns of all things.. The trio silently turned around and went back home to get some sleep. Now that the Excaliburs were sighted and Executors on Kokabiel's tail, he would have to move soon.

"So, tomorrow is likely, huh?" Heracles mused to himself, an excited grin on his face. The siblings nodded in response.

"Most likely. We just don't know where. That's why we need to move as soon as the spell picks something up." Illya remarked, as they arrived back home.

Heracles waved them goodnight and went of to his room. Just as Shirou was about to do the same, Illya grabbed his arm.

"Onii-chan.. Would you.. would you stay with me tonight?" She asked with a small blush and downcast eyes. "It's just.. We don't know what tomorrow will bring and I'm a bit scared.."

Shirou smiled kindly at her and patted her head lovingly. "Sure Illya. Let's go to bed then, shall we?"

"Hai, Onii-chan~"

 **...:::...**

 **Omake** : The Game of Excaliburs

\- Shirou admitted that he may have overshot in his experiment. All he wanted to do was to test, if Excalibur Mimic really could take _any_ form. Now, he was sitting in a sword house, with sword furniture, sword apples (which were non edible which he found out by hurting himself when biting into them), and a lot of other things that were swords in the beginning.

After recreating mundane objects, he turned his focus to fictional things. All around him, things he had seen in Illya's different animes were scattered about. For example there was the cool looking black sword from this virtual reality game.

But the most striking feature currently in the room was the thing he was sitting on. He had seen it one night, when he was watching TV before going to bed, and he came across what he thought was a normal Middle Ages series. He later noticed that it was more akin to a porno and swapped channels as soon as he saw that, but one particular picture stayed in his head.

A throne made of swords. It was horribly looking and totally unsuited for a benevolent king, but for someone who could be considered a sword, it was fascinating. Just how many great swords were used for this?

So he ended up projecting it and sitting on it, just to see how it would feel like. Of course that was the exact moment Illya walked in.

"Onii-chan, seriously? Projecting a whole house and a bunch of other stuff... Wow, what a lot of cool stuff!" Illya exclaimed happily, not noticing what Shirou was sitting on and hurrying other to the pile of anime related things. After a while, she sighed happily and spoke up again.

"Onii-chan, I hereby declare you to be the best brother in the world. All the merchandise I don't have to buy now.. hehehe, why didn't I think of that before?" She drooled slightly and Shirou sighed in defeat. Only Illya would think of something like that.. His sigh caused Illya to look at him and the throne and she blinked surprised. But only for a second, before smirking evilly.

"Oh, Onii-chan~ I know this throne~ Did you project this to feel like a Tangaryen~?" She asked innocently, slowly edging closer to him.

"Illya? What are you talking about?" He exclaimed in shock at her sudden shift in behaviour.

"Mhm, I think you know what I am talking about~ After all, why would you project something like this otherwise~?" She stated in a seductive voice and with a sultry voice. She finally reached Shirou and jumped onto his lap, drapping her arms around his neck. "So want do you say, _brother_. Why don't we act like all the siblings of the Tangaryen should?" -

Shirou woke up and nearly screamed. He noticed that he was sitting up in bed, Illya sleeping peacefully next to him and he concluded that everything had been a dream. A very.. disturbing dream. Yes, disturbing. He would never ever again watch TV except maybe the animes Illya recommended.

His breathing eased up a bit and he was about to settle down, when he heard Illya mumbling in her sleep. "Come to bed, Onii-chan~ I will show you how siblings should act~"

This time, he screamed.


	8. 07 Kokabiel

Rias had known that something was amiss the second Kokabiel showed up at her doorstep and tossed Irina in front of Issei and her. Issei had told her that she chased Freed and Balba after their little battle in the streets, but didn't worry too much. After all, what were the chances that one Exorcist is going to find the base of their operations? But she didn't have time for that now. No, first she needed to stop Kokabiel and his crazy plan of restarting the war.

She knew that the Devils wouldn't survive another war. Over half of the original 72 Devil clans were already dead and High-Class Devils were more or less uncommon. That had been the reason to start turning other creatures into Devils in the first place… No, the only ones who could hope to survive the war would be the Fallen Angels and Angels, but even the latter were weakened. How, she couldn't fathom, they had a similar system to the Devils and used highly effective holy weapons.

Whatever. She would think about winning a war if it started. Currently, she was on her way to Kuoh Academy, after informing her Peerage and Sona about Kokabiel's plan. Reforging the Excalibur, even though she didn't exactly know how that could happen, she knew one thing. It would certainly destroy the whole city and end the lives of tens of thousands innocent citizens. Citizens in her territory.

She briefly thought about informing Shirou and Illya, but decided against it. They may be powerful, but even they couldn't hope to fight against a leader of the Grigori and hope to live to tell the tale. They were the safest in their own home. It was somewhat concerning how fast those two wormed their way into her heart. She barely knew them for a few months and already considered them honorary members of her Peerage.

Shirou was the good guy with the hero attitude that most girls would swoon over. It certainly helped that he looked good as well. And the things she had seen him do, defeating every challenge in his way... She still had to see him go all-out in a fight. Maybe he had even unlocked his Balance Breaker, but she doubted that. Nobody who did so didn't flaunt their achievement. And even though his fighting powers would be welcomed in the battle ahead, he wasn't connected to the current problem, so there was no reason to let him fight.

Illya was still a mystery to Rias. She just couldn't figure the white-haired girl out. One moment Illya would act her physical age, sporting a childish innocence that wasn't found in many, and in the next she seemed to be older than she looked like. And then in the next she was the coldest and scariest person she ever met. And Rias still had to see her using her magecraft or actually fight something…

Well, she hoped that day would be far away. And she was pretty sure it was, thanks to their new member in their little family. Heracles, a wanted criminal and extremely strong fighter was now her protector. It was a cute image in her mind, Illya hiding behind the giant, hoping to be protected while he took care of her.

She was shaken out of her musings when she arrived at the school and saw Sona and her Peerage setting up a barrier around it. She felt the power inside the barrier and knew that the battle was about to start.

… **:::...**

The three occupants of the Emiya residence were sitting around the dinner table after a small dinner and waited. They knew what was going to happen this evening and they just waited for the reforging process to begin, so they could move out and stop it.

Illya looked to the side where Shirou was calmly drinking his tea, a relaxed expression on his face. However, she knew her brother very well after all the time she spent observing him. Which is very different compared to stalking, by the way. His whole body was tense, as if he expected an attack on himself at any moment.

Looking to her other side however, Illya couldn't help but grin. There on the couch sat Berserker in his battle outfit, giant stone sword on his lap and literally _bouncing_ on his seat, eager to battle. He reminded her so much of a child who just found out that Christmas was three months early this year.

She knew from the beginning that he was a battle maniac, but this bad... Maybe he was used to sparring with Shirou by now and already accepted that he couldn't win. If so, it's no wonder he was eager to face a very powerful opponent who he could maybe win against. And even if not, the thrill of the battle would surely be more than enough for him to be happy. She wondered if he forgot that she was in command of him during battles… Well, she would let him do whatever he wanted anyways.

Illya herself was dressed for battle as well. In contrast to the dark and robust clothing of the two male occupants of the room, she opted for a bright white dress. It went well with her white hair and skin, giving her a transcendent appearance. She was especially happy about the way Shirou looked at her for a second before blushing and turning away, that was more than worth all the time she spent optimizing and strengthening it.

Similar to Shirou's and Berserker's clothing, Illya had integrated runes for protection against physical force and light energy. Together with a few other rune arrays which heightened the wearer's speed and physical strength, it was as effective as she could manage. Maybe with more time she would have been able to craft a Mystic Code which would be better, but the enchanted clothing would do for now.

And of course there were the tons of enchanted steel wires all over the city. A true magus is always prepared. So no matter where the fight would be, she was prepared. But she really hoped that it would be on the Kuoh Academy school grounds, she had planted a few surprises there...

It was not much later that she heard a faint alarm through her connection with the locating spell, together with a location. Standing up, she caught Shirou's and Heracles' attention.

"It started. Kuoh Academy school grounds, just as we thought. From the amount of energy I can see, it's very likely that they started reforging the swords," she informed them and they immediately leapt to action.

After running outside, they started to head to Kuoh Academy, hoping that they wouldn't be too late to save the devils in their town... Or at least those without these ridiculously big breasts, Illya mused.

… **:::...**

They were utterly defeated. These words described the aftermath of the extremely short battle with Kokabiel best. It wasn't even close, as soon as the co-leader of the Fallen Angels joined the battle, no one was left uninjured and standing. Issei with ten boosts was defeated with a single punch. Akeno and Rias depleted all their magic just to block two spears.

Koneko was nursing her own wounds after getting punched by Kokabiel right through her rook defenses. Kiba was outclassed in speed and even after obtaining Balance Breaker, defeating Freed and coming to terms with his turbulent past, he couldn't do anything against the sheer power of a Fallen Angel with ten wings.

A bit further from the battle, Xenovia and Irina were lying on the floor groaning in pain. They were blasted away after a light spear exploded right in their face. The only one left standing was Asia who was doing her best to heal her fellow peerage members, but even her Twilight Healing needed time. Time that they didn't have.

"So that's the power of the Red Dragon Emperor?" Kokabiel's voice boomed from above them. "What a pathetic show of power. You claim to want to protect your King, but you go down that easily. You were barely enough to qualify for a warm-up before the real battle, the war, starts!" The Fallen Angel cackled madly to himself.

On the ground, Issei tried his best to stand up, to protect his beloved club president's breasts. But he couldn't, he was spent. And so he did the only thing he could. He groaned in pain and hoped that someone would show up to save them.

"It's time to end this then, I guess," Kokabiel mused after registering that no one had any strength left to spend. "I thank you for your sacrifice!" With that, he summoned a huge spear of light, illuminating the sky and the school grounds with its light.

Rias closed her eyes, awaiting her death. The only thing she could think about was her failure, she failed to protect her Peerage, failed to save the world from another war. And above all else, she failed her brother. All she had wanted was to escape her sheltered life, and now she was about to die. She felt the spear coming closer and closer, the heat and light growing nearly unbearable... until it stopped.

Confused she opened her eyes, immediately noticing the three persons she tried to protect from the Fallen Angel.

… **:::...**

"Onii-chan, we forgot something very important!" Illya suddenly cried out, causing Heracles and Shirou to stop and look at her with a questioning expression. They were halfway to the school, if they had to go back to get something, they would most likely be late. What was so important that they should risk it?

"We don't have a catchphrase! You know, if we just go there and save them, then nobody is going to take us seriously. We need a catchphrase!" the small girl exclaimed, causing the two males to sweat-drop.

"We can think about that later, Illya. Maybe once we defeat Kokabiel, you'd have thought of something?" Shirou asked hopeful, not wanting to tell her that a catchphrase was the smallest of their problems right now. "Let's continue, we can just improvise!"

"Ooh, that's a nice idea Onii-chan! The most badass sentences are always thought of in the heat of a battle! I like it," Illya stated and started to run in the direction of the school again. "Come on! I can't wait to show everyone how cool we are."

Shirou and Heracles had amused expressions on their faces, but followed her without much delay.

Meanwhile, Illya was thinking about the biggest issue in her opinion. 'Hm... Maybe I can just copy one of the better anime catchphrases... Let's see which can I remember: "I will have you fall for me!" only works for Angels, obviously Fallen Angels can't fall any further or?

"You're already dead!" is a nice one, I definitely have to keep it in mind. "I will _destroy_ that messed up illusion of yours!" isn't that good without something to actually destroy illusions with. "However by that point you might be torn to pieces," is my favourite until now... I would love to say "Tuturu~" to everyone I meet, but that isn't exactly fear-inducing.'

While Illya was busy thinking about how to make a cool entrance, Shirou and Heracles had a different problem. When they arrived at the scene, they noticed three things. The entire Occult Research Club plus the two Exorcists looked severely beaten, the reforging process seemed to be already finished, and Kokabiel was flying in the sky, about to throw a giant light spear that would eradicate the whole school.

So Shirou did what every aspiring Shounen character would be proud of - he opened his Magic Circuits with his usual shout of "Trace on!" and jumped in front of the incoming massive attack to save the day.

… **:::...**

Shirou was panting hard, holding his right arm which was leaking blood from countless small cuts and fractures. Kokabiel's light spear managed to penetrate through five layers of his strongest defense and the guy didn't even look like he was breaking a sweat. For the first time after arriving in this dimension, Shirou was immensely worried about his sister's, his, and Illya's immediate survival.

His arm, or rather the broken and bloody mess hurt like hell, but he knew that it would heal soon enough. If he could get Kokabiel to talk, Avalon would have enough time to patch him up. Next to himself he saw Illya finally breaking out of her daydreams and sending him a worried look. He smiled reassuringly at her and she shook her head in exasperation.

"Really Onii-chan? While I think about a cool way to start this battle you just go with the standard 'I'm a Shounen character here in the last minute to save you!' way?" She smiled slightly and started to mutter a healing spell to fasten the regeneration of his right arm.

"Sorry Illya. Next time I will just let them die so that you can decide on something," he deadpanned before turning to face Kokabiel who was slightly pissed off for not being acknowledged. "I'm afraid we can't let you kill our friends, nor destroy this city. Azazel sent us to stop you. If you surrender peacefully, I'm sure he will take that into consideration."

Kokabiel in the meantime was having the time of his life. While it was a bit annoying and impressive to have his light spear stopped by some random boy, his words amused him greatly. Azazel, the leader of the Grigori, sent a child to stop a Fallen Angel with ten wings. Kokabiel knew that the blond Fallen Angel had found evidence for Kokabiel's plans and prepared against them, but this? A boy, a small girl about eleven years old, and a giant man? What could they hope to accomplish? After all, he already defeated the Red Dragon Emperor. The only thing that could go wrong was if Vali showed up but that was unlikely.

No, the war was about to start. He only had to defeat the last three standing and get on with the killing of the Maou's sister. The following revenge(?) attack would surely restart the Great War and this time the Fallen Angels wouldn't offer a peace treaty just before winning the war. Azazel was a fool, God was dead and the Devils lost more than half of their pillars. Nothing was in their way anymore to claim supremacy.

But how to deal with the annoyances in front of him…? Ah, right. He had an army. It was a small one, barely 200 Fallen Angels, but it would be enough to be a substantial force in the upcoming conflict. They would appreciate drawing their first blood in this conflict a little bit earlier.

"Surrender? Why would I even consider to surrender against a boy and a little girl? The only one of you who seems to be capable is that huge guy. If you are all that Azazel sent to stop me, I can't help but think that he wants to restart the war as well!" he taunted and it seemed to work. The little girl was visibly angry and only restrained by the man who patted her on the head in reassurance.

"I don't have to waste my time on you. No, instead I will present you to my army as a sacrifice. Rejoice, for you are going to be the first blood in this conflict."

All around him in the sky, magic circles formed and around two hundred Fallen Angels came out of them. However, most of them only had one or two pairs of wings, signaling their obvious difference in power to Kokabiel.

 **...:::...**

Illya groaned in defeat. This just got a lot harder and annoying. Whatever. She focussed on the prana in her magic circuits and sent it into a beforehand prepared pile of wires. The formerly disregarded wires started to move as if they had a will of their own and formed a giant fist that stopped to hover in front of her, waiting to be used.

Fallen Angels hovered in the air, eagerly awaiting battle under a darkened sky. Kokabiel was in the middle of his army, smirking victoriously and eagerly awaiting the coming war. The Student Council was doing its best to erect a barrier around the school grounds so that the city wouldn't be in danger from stray explosions and magical powers. The Occult Research Club was nursing its wounds on the sidelines while Asia was busy patching them up to the best of her abilities.

And finally, the three that dared to challenge an army. Shirou, Illya, and her ever faithful giant Heracles, standing on the ground underneath the army, facing them with no small amount of worry, but with a lot of determination. The tension was so thick, it could have been cut with a knife, as both sides prepared for the coming battle.

For the casual, ignorant of anything supernatural, observer, the sky gained a hundred new stars as the Fallen Angels focussed their powers to form light spears of varying sizes and amounts of power in them. At the same time on the ground, magic circuits opened wider and wider, allowing the maximum output of power. Every magically capable being could literally taste the amount of magical energy radiating from the two persons in front of them, the smaller one far outclassing the red haired teenager.

In the hands of the teenager, a beautiful bow materialized and he raised it, ready to draw the string at any given moment. All around the little girl, wires came to life and formed different things. Swords, birds, and huge fists were hovering in the air, all pointing in the general direction of their opponents. Lastly, a sword appeared, in a similar fashion to the bow in the teenager's hands, in the hands of the tall man.

And so, the preparations were complete. However, just as the battle was about to start by a commanding shout of the leader of this army, a twitchy and nervous Fallen Angel threw his light spear... and became the first casualty.

As soon as the light spear started to fly, Heracles jumped in front of the projectile and shattered it with his sword, his lessons with Shirou kicking in. At the same time, a sword appeared on Shirou's bowstring, twisted itself into a deadly projectile and shot through the heart of the unsuspecting Fallen Angel before he could even think about defending himself.

Angered by the loss of their comrade, the other Fallen Angels released their spears and the battle began.

The battle raged for a few minutes, until the Fallen Angels noticed that they couldn't win this way. The three individuals in front of them were flawlessly dividing the protection and attacking between their team, while never once getting in each other's way.

Illya was tasked with protection and lookout duty. Her wires twirled in between the army and the two men she was living with. While some of her familiars were shooting at the Fallen Angels and landing a few hits, most of them were shooting at the barrage of light spears, hoping to reduce their numbers so that the second line of defense could deal with them more easily.

The second line of defense was... well, Heracles. Seeing as his opponents were flying in the air out of his reach, he patiently waited for light spears to close in to his position to block them with his sword. Those he couldn't reach, he used his Sacred Gear to destroy, causing explosions all around him.

Shirou in the meantime was doing his best to kill as many Fallen Angels as he could with his Excalibow.

After a few minutes of steady progress, he decided to switch tactics. Dismissing his bow, he concentrated and traced a lance he knew well, well enough to be killed by it once. Gáe Bolg, the lance of the Hound of Ulster, a Noble Phantasm that Cú Chulainn mainly used as an Anti-Unit weapon.

However, it had a secondary ability, besides reversing causality. It was also classified as an Anti-Army Noble Phantasm. If activated and thrown, it could split into dozens of copies of itself, raining down on enemies and still seeking their hearts to pierce.

While it wasn't his most destructive or fatal weapon, it certainly did its job. The Fallen Angels scattered in hopes of avoiding the barrage, only for half of them to not be fast enough. Fallen Angels were falling quite literally out of the sky, and Illya had to suppress a snort at the irony of it all.

Noticing their weakness in ranged combat, the remaining fifty Fallen Angels closed in to end this battle in melee range. By now, they had a good idea that their opponents were more than capable in a fight and would not fall as easily as expected. This sealed their fate however, as suddenly Heracles had a chance to fight and unload his full skill, slaying a dozen Fallen Angels in a matter of minutes.

Behind him, Illya commanded her familiars with the grace of a professional dancer, striking her enemies' blind spots and binding them, so that they were incapacitated. Shirou was doing a similar thing to Heracles. With his trusty twin swords in hands, he wreaked havoc, a calm and calculating look on his face. It wasn't until the last Fallen Angel fell, that silence returned on the battlefield.

The ORC and the Student Council were shocked to see the two nice siblings slaying so many Falling Angels with ease, barely breaking a sweat. They didn't even seem fazed, as if bringing death was an everyday thing for them. No horror showed in their eyes, no hesitation in their actions. If they didn't know better, they would have thought that they already survived a war.

Kokabiel on the other hand was looking as if Christmas came early. He brought a small part of his army, expecting a warm-up fight against opponents who were easily crushed. But those three, they weren't weak. Not at all. And to top it all off, they were human! The race that was widely known as the weakest in all the factions. Maybe, just maybe he would have to reevaluate his opinion of them, depending on how long they would last.

Oh yes, he would enjoy this fight. A good battle before facing the Maous was just the thing he was looking for. "Well then. You have impressed me with your strength so far, so don't start disappointing now," Kokabiel muttered to himself and started to gather his power, eager to join the fighting.

… **:::...**

Heracles was having the time of his life. He thought that sparring with Shirou and a few battles now and then would be all he had to expect, but this exceeded all his hopes and dreams. First, a battle against two hundred Fallen Angels! Every single of them was powerful in their own rights, trained to fight supernatural threats. They were worthy opponents, and Heracles regretted the need to kill them a bit. If only he could keep a few around to fight against them again! And that wasn't even the main event. No, the real fight was still ahead of them.

That it was against a Fallen Angel with ten wings was just the icing on the cake. If he had known about this, he would have actively searched for the siblings and begged them to serve as a slave or whatever, as long as he could fight with them. On second thought, he may come to regret this, especially with what his tiny master seemed to plan... Half the time he swore that she was plotting something to embarrass him to amuse herself.

Focussing back on the battle, he twitched in anticipation. The power Kokabiel released now was on a whole different level compared to before. It wasn't as powerful as even the power that Ophis released subconsciously, but still a whole lot more than he expected. Trying his best to stop himself from jumping up and down in joy and hugging Shirou, his hands tightened around his sword.

Wait, did he really just think that? He really needed time away from Illya, it seemed that her actions were somehow influencing him a bit... He would cross that bridge after the battle, if he was still alive.

Ah, how long had it been. The thrill of the unknowing, something you weren't sure you could actually survive. His fight against the siblings had been different. Back then he had Jeanne with him and both of them severely underestimated the two. Furthermore, none of them had an aura that deadly and in the first battle they never showed their true capabilities. But this was different. This was great!

Kokabiel threw his first giant light spear and everyone scattered. The Fallen Angel focussed his attention on Shirou with his barrage of spears and the boy was forced to dodge and deflect a few dozen spears, effectively rooting him in place. While Illya helped him defend, Heracles saw his chance to engage in close combat with the overgrown bird.

He opened up with an overhead slash and chuckled when Kokabiel summoned a light spear in the path of his sword. Oh, he was really thankful for all his spars with Shirou now. If he had to choose the one thing he learned best, then it definitely would have to be fighting against an enemy who could create countless weapons from thin air.

Not waiting for Kokabiel to counter, he kept the pressure and chained slash after slash after stab, slowly but surely overwhelming Kokabiel with his skill. It always came to that. The mighty and powerful were so used to flaunting their power that they didn't bother to keep their skills sharp. And why would they? Nobody with less power would have been suicidal enough to challenge them.

But exactly that gave Heracles and every other not naturally overpowered being the chance to best even the strongest. With exception of the two dragon gods of course, if someone lived as long as them, there was hardly any need to keep their skills sharp. Their power was just so unimaginably big, that releasing a piece of it would do the job. But he was digressing.

The two of them clashed again, but this time was somewhat different. Kokabiel's light spear locked against his sword and he _pushed_ him backwards as if he decided to finally show his real strength. Heracles' sword showed a few cracks and he knew it was nearing its limit. He could always defend himself with his fists and Sacred Gear, but by now, his skill with the sword was better. It wasn't looking too well.

A few swings later his sword broke and he quickly jumped backwards, away from a smirking Kokabiel. The latter seemed to wait for him to attack again, thinking that without his sword, his opponent was as good as defeated. His smirk didn't last long however, because a second later a sword materialized right in front of the grinning Heracles who nodded his head towards Shirou in thanks.

Said redhead had finally escaped the onslaught of light spears during Heracles' clash with Kokabiel and was now standing besides him. Behind him, Heracles could feel Illya's prana (as she called it) and knew that she caught up to him as well. Oh, this fight was starting for real now!

… **:::...**

Issei was in pain. That was to be expected after being thrown over the school yard and landing in a wall. Even Asia's healing could only do so much and he sent her to help the others as soon as he could think straight again. Now he was sitting on the ground, watching the battle in awe. They took out a hundred-fifty Fallen Angels! And they were only three! Issei doubted that Rias, Sona and their Peerages combined could manage that.

To top it off, they were facing Kokabiel and even though they were struggling to hold their ground, they were managing somehow. The same Kokabiel that defeated all of them. The same Kokabiel that systematically took out every fighter present here. Yes, Shirou and his crew would definitely replace him as the main character if this was an anime. Heroic? Check. Cute heroine? Check. Huge sidekick? Check. Shirou had it all.

However, this wasn't the time to be jealous. An explosion occurred and Issei looked at the battlefield to see Shirou staring incredulously at Kokabiel who just blocked something called Caladbolg II. Didn't he hear that name in some RPG game before? The Rainbow Sword or some ridiculous title like that. It had some ranged attacks and was modelled after the legend of the original… Shirou had that? So unfair!

What was even more unfair was the fact that Kokabiel just blocked it with a barrier, not even looking strained. That wasn't looking too well. He could see Heracles panting in exhaustion, small cuts all over his body from attacks he couldn't quite block. Illya didn't have the same _presence_ she had in the beginning of the battle, which meant her magic reserves were dropping low.

The only ones looking ready to fight were Kokabiel and Shirou, Shirou having sustained a few minor wounds that were already fading away. Kokabiel on the other hand looked as fresh as at the start of the battle. The leader of the Fallen Angels smirked and charged, locking Shirou in heated close combat. Swords shattered every three swings, only to be replaced by new ones.

Heracles tried to sneak up behind the Fallen, but as soon as he got in range, Kokabiel's wings unfolded and a barrage of feathers pushed him back. He desperately tried to defend against it, but only managed to deflect the ones aiming for fatal spots. A second later, Heracles was lying on the ground groaning in pain while a tired looking Asia ran up to him.

Issei couldn't see Shirou's face, but he knew that the teenager was angry. Swiftly disengaging from Kokabiel, he jumped backwards and muttered something through gritted teeth.

" _ **My body is made of blades  
My blood is steel, my heart is glass  
I can not lose a single battle  
For it would leave my loved ones alone."**_

Those sentences changed something in him. His movements were sharper, if possible even more skilled. The blades in his hands danced and every swing would have meant certain death, had it not been for Kokabiel's light spears who blocked each and every one. While they seemed to be more evenly matched, by no means was Shirou winning this fight. No, it was looking as if he was just able to stall him longer than the Occult Research Club was able to. It was clear as day, what Shirou needed was a power boost...

Illya was panting, looking utterly exhausted and most of her constructs laid lifelessly on the ground around her. Only a few of her smaller familiars were flying around and shooting at Kokabiel, which didn't even seem to bother him with his strong magical defenses.

Shirou himself was tiring. So the real question was: Did he really want to risk his life to most likely die while trying to help them? A normal person would have disagreed of course, too frightened to do anything. Issei, on the other hand, was anything but normal (regrettably). So he got up and activated his Boosted Gear, because right in front of him was the unique route to conquer the loli brocon!

If saving her brother couldn't win her heart, then what could? His harem was getting closer and closer!

 **[Boost]**

Everyone stopped for a moment to look at him surprised. Did they really think he would go down that easily? Issei ignored the pleading looks of his friends, trying to tell him to stop. He ignored the glare from Illya that screamed 'Mess this up and I will kill you personally.' No, the only thing in his mind was Shirou's back, which he came closer to with every step.

 **[Boost]**

Only a few dozen meters more. He could do it! Issei idly noticed a light spear flying in his direction, only to be intercepted by a bird familiar. It seemed that the little sister had understood his plan and was protecting him now. Oh, he was so happy that he could cry! Finally something different compared to getting knocked out!

 **[Boost]**

Three boosts should be enough. They really should. If not, this would be over. With the last of his strength, he sprinted the meters left to Shirou and patted him on the back with his gauntlet.

 **[Transfer]**

 **[Burst]**

Issei collapsed after transferring and everything turned black for him.

… **:::...**

As soon as Shirou felt the energy streaming into him, he felt kind of high. He was four times as strong as at his best! Well, it could have been eight times that, but his reserves were already half depleted, if not more. So bringing his power back to full and beyond was really exhilarating.

Only... He couldn't keep all this prana in himself. Even the few seconds the prana was in his Magic Circuits it strained them. If he were to keep it that way, his whole body would be destroyed in a matter of minutes. Instinctively reinforcing his whole body to the maximum helped and he jumped backwards, to gain distance between Kokabiel and himself. Just as he was about to let loose a barrage of Noble Phantasms, he noticed that Kokabiel had taken to the sky and was hovering there expectantly.

He smiled faintly. That made it way easier. Now he didn't have to worry too much about destroying the school grounds and everyone present. In his Reality Marble a sword he already used without effect in this battle stirred and flickered in existence in Shirou's right hand. In his left, his Excalibow was traced and instantly reinforced. Even the sword fragment would need extra strength to pull off what he wanted to do.

Kokabiel in the meantime was watching Shirou intently. "Oh, didn't you already try that? It won't do you much better this time, boy. While you have your magic refilled, your body is close to its limits. Finish your desperate last attack and then we can finally end this."

Shirou didn't respond, instead focussing on altering the Noble Phantasm in his hand and Breaking it. He pumped more and more prana in it. When he felt that it reached its maximum saturation, he only had half of his original prana left.

Without another comment, he let it fly.

It closed the distance between Shirou and Kokabiel in a heartbeat, flying at speeds that would make Excalibur Rapidly proud. Only his constant years in combat, and the fact that he was more than a few millennia old, made him able to erect a hasty barrier. After all, he had seen that sword before and the barrier had held. So why shouldn't it do so this time? Then, sword met barrier.

The resulting explosion was strong enough to shatter the barrier around the school with ease and caused every inhabitant of Kuoh City to briefly wonder if there had always been two suns in the sky. A high-class Devil who was summoned to wipe the inhabitants minds of the event, would later report it as the most tedious task in his long life.

On the school grounds in the meantime, everyone did their best to cower together behind magic shields which were hastily created by whomever still had reserves. Their saving grace was not only the fact that Kokabiel and therefore the explosion, were high up in the air, but also that most of Caladbolg II's explosion was prevented to reach them by a giant net of lightly glowing wires.

After a few minutes of silence, the only sound being falling debris and heavy breathing, the dust lifted to reveal the aftermath. Half the school was destroyed, the other half badly damaged. While everyone survived the explosion, all were hurt. Asia would have a field day dealing with all of their injuries.

Shirou was standing in the middle of the field and turned to his little sister who cowered behind him. As soon as he had fired Caladbolg II, his first instinct had been to protect her. That turned out to be unnecessary, as she had instead used her prana reserves to build a protective dome, trying to shield everyone from the blast. A bit further away, Heracles groaned in pain. He was nursing his own wounds after the fight and looked wilder as ever. Of Kokabiel there was no trace left.

While the devils were still trying to comprehend what just happened, Illya already turned to her Onii-chan with a cute pout.

"Onii-chan, why did you have to blow him up? Now I have to buy new wires and I didn't even get to say my well thought out catchphrase..."

… **:::..**

Shirou awoke in his own room, Illya cuddled up besides him. Dismissing the thought that he could get used to waking up like this, he recapped what happened the last days. After their rather close victory over Kokabiel, all of those involved in the battle had needed a few days off to heal and relax.

Right after the battle, Azazel and Sirzechs had arrived on the scene. The former of the two left quickly after seeing that Shirou, Illya and Heracles were too exhausted to do anything and told them that he would come by their house in the near future to talk about their rewards. With Sirzechs, he briefly talked about organizing a meeting with all three factions to explain what happened.

Sirzechs on the other hand was busy doting on his little sister Rias. Shirou had a hard time believing that he was one of the most powerful beings in this world, when the man rubbed his cheek against Rias' and was constantly asking if she was hurt anywhere and if he should kiss the pain away. By the time Grafiya, his maid as it looked like, managed to get him to behave, Shirou's impression of the powerful devil was already destroyed.

That was two days ago. The day after they spent healing their injuries and looking over Heracles who was more critically injured than they thought. But he was as good as new after Asia paid a short visit and was already doing light training to prepare for his next big fight.

Seeing as he couldn't really go anywhere in the moment, as he was trapped between Illya's short arms and was unwilling to wake her, he decided to go over something that had bothered him. When he had arrived at the scene, he saw the remains of what looked like a shattered sword, something that should by all means not be copied into his Unlimited Blade Works.

So he closed his eyes and accessed his world. The gears in the sky were turning slowly, a deep rumble could be heard from time to time. He was a bit surprised that the desert he was so used to, was slowly decreasing in size. Instead he stood on a wide meadow, and from behind a hill in the distance he could fell a small breeze.

It was as if his world full of blades was finally gaining a bit of life. He pondered on that for a second. If Unlimited Blade Works, the manifestation of his soul, was growing grass, what could that mean? Would he have to start shaving his non-existent beard soon? Shaking his head in amusement, he looked around for the shards he was searching.

Normally, he would just will them to appear in front of him, but the sword shards were slippy. He could tell where they were, but it looked as if something was missing to give him full control of them. And so he slowly started walking in the direction where he could sense them.

When he found them, he was a bit surprised to see where they lay. Instead of a random location, they were positioned next to the Excalibur of his world and the two Excaliburs he had seen in this world. If he knew better, he would have assumed that they attracted each other, striving to reach the same strength the original Excalibur had.

A small Structural Grasp later, he was surprised to find out that the sword shards were the essences of Excalibur Nightmare, Excalibur Transparency and Excalibur Rapidly. He could see the history of the swords, but the abilities and the real swords were a mystery to him. Maybe Illya could do something with them? She was naturally good with Alchemy and considering that the Excaliburs were made with the help it... That could be interesting.

While his mind was busy, his body was close to being molested by Illya. The white-haired girl had woken up a few minutes ago and after noticing that he was still asleep, or at least she thought so, decided to steal a good morning kiss. One turned to ten, and even though she felt a bit guilty about doing this without her Onii-chan's consent, she was enjoying herself too much to stop.

Shirou exited his Reality Marble and stirred slightly, opening his eyes to see a blushing Illya in front of him. He licked his lips absentmindedly and noticed a strange taste. Had he been drooling during the night?

"Good morning, Illya!" He smiled at his adopted sister and patted her head. Yes, he could definitely get used to this.

… **:::...**

Omake:

"Kokabiel, I have come to stop you!" Shirou shouted and jumped in front of the giant light spear. "Magical Girl Prisma Shirou is here to save the day!"

Shouting his catchphrase, Shirou focussed all the attention on him. The light around him flickered and within moments, the space around him was full of bubbles, feathers and stars on an orange background. His clothes disappeared and Illya passed out from sudden blood loss through her nose. Most of the females around the battlefield weren't faring much better.

Slowly Shirou's outfit formed on his body. On his hands, long pink gloves with white mixed in appeared. On his feet, very female slippers took their place over pink tights. The rest of his body was covered by a short pink dress that barely covered the important parts of his manly anatomy and left his back bare. However, neither his height nor build changed, so all of that looked pretty ridiculous on him.

A few metres away, he could hear Issei's desperate cry. "Oh no, there are more of them! First Mil-tan and now Shirou. I don't want to live anymore." And with that he fell unconscious because of mental exhaustion.

Magical Girl Prisma Shirou shrugged and barely suppressed a grin. Since he had first seen a magical girl anime with Illya, he had wanted to do this. The clothes were handmade, structural grasped and then projected on his body. He even traced a huge picture as a background for his transformation. Now, the only thing left were the hair clips. With a small amount of prana, his hair lifted and two butterfly hairclips tried its best to give him twintails. Which promptly failed because of his lack of hair.

He briefly glanced at Kokabiel and saw him with his mouth wide open. It seemed that even a leader of the Fallen Angel could be speechless. Shirou smirked, this was only going to get better.

"You ready Heracles?" he asked the giant of a man and Heracles nodded with a grim face. Suddenly, the background appeared behind Heracles and with a show similar to Shirou's he changed into a Magical Girl outfit. "Magical Girl Prisma Heracles! Together we are the warriors for love and justice!"

Kokabiel at this point wasn't quite sure what to do. All in him itched to destroy those two guys(?) in front of him, but he already said that they should face his army. On the other hand, his army fighting against two guys dressed as Magical Girls was just too embarrassing. He needed to kill everyone here now, or his reputation would be unsalvageable.

Shirou sensed the increase in power and traced his Excalibow. However, in contrast to the one he normally used, this one had a lot of ribbons and was as pink as a bow could get. This was one of the times Shirou was really happy about the abilities of Excalibur Mimic...

Just as their epic battle was about to start, a magic circle opened in front of the two 'Magical Girls' and a girl dressed as another Magical Girl jumped out of it, straight at the two surprised crossdressers.

"Hmmm..." The girl walked a slow circle around the two, looking closely at their outfits and posture. "Yes, you are perfect! Hi there, fellow Magical Girls, you are going to join my Peerage!" she exclaimed happily and took out two pieces.

That was the point when Kokabiel couldn't take it anymore. "It's enough. I will kill you and reduce your ridiculous outfits to ashes! This is supposed to be a war, not a comic convention! Die and let me fight serious opponents!"

The girl looked up at him and pouted cutely. "It's not nice to interrupt Magical Girls when they are talking! The villains are supposed to wait until after we discuss our strategy. Begone, we will search for a new villain!"

That was how the fight ended. As it turned out, the girl was Serafall Leviathan, one of the four Maous and Magical Girl enthusiast. And since she was defending her pride as a Magical Girl, Kokabiel didn't even stand a chance against her. On the same evening, Heracles, Shirou and Illya joined her Peerage and were forced to wear Magical Girl outfits for the rest of their lives.

 **THE END**

 **CREDITS**

 **Bludflag - betaed the final chapter**

 **Whitesquirel - author of the fanfic**

 **The readers for their constructive criticism and motivational comments.**

 **And lastly, we thank Kinoko Nasu and that guy who made Highschool DxD for making the series in question. Without them, none of this could've happened.**

 **... Nah, I'm just kidding.**

 **A/N: I am sorry for the delay, university tends to eat more time than I expected. I will try to finish a chapter a month from now. My deepest apologies for my horrible grammar go to Bludflag who not only corrected the mistakes, but is an invaluable source of input and feedback.**

 **On another note, this chapter will be the last on in canon. I noticed it just isn't that fun writing and had been done way too often before. Maybe I will rewrite the earlier chapters, but that is a project for another time!**  
 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **_**  
 **Bludflag here! I'm the new guy who does vague things to words in this fic. I know people are not all that interested in it, so I'll skip that.**  
 **I first got to this site by a recommendations page to a Harry Potter fic and basically went on a reading spree. As a consequence, I'm more or less following over 140 stories :/**  
 **In any case, I went over the chapter, and it really needed some caring. You'll be grateful to me for what I did on the Kokabiel fight. Squirel's sick and tired of fics that are just Stations of Canon and we brainstormed for a while on what to do. Needless to say, this is a ballsy move that shall be either a Crowning Moment of Awesome or a total failure.**

 **That out of the way, I'm really annoyed by DxD. It's fairly inconclusive about how the Boosted Gear works. Does it increase the quantity of magical power or increase its quality? Sure, in one of the Balance Breaker training montages Issei used a spell the size of "a grain of rice" and blew up a mountain. Fairly certain when Issei Transfers, he increases the quantity of someone's magic (see: every Transfer to Rias ever), but canon never outright says anything.**  
 **… That was way too long. I apologize.**


End file.
